Why Buy a Travel Paint Set?

So, why purchase a portable watercolor set for travel? Why won’t your current standard-size one suffice? The simplest answer is that these sets are both easier to work and travel with. If you’re constantly on the move, but still want to indulge in your painting passion when inspiration hits, you want a set you can quickly grab and take with you wherever you go.

Portable watercolor sets are generally easy to keep on-hand while on the move since it has all the necessary color ranges of your standard acrylic or oil paint sets, sans the myriad of extra bits and pieces.

Travel sets are designed to be compact; meaning you don’t have to bring along dozens of painting utensils that you may not necessarily need. A compact set provides you with all of your watercolor essentials to stay engaged in your peaceful painting without being short of any main utensils needed for a breathtaking water painting.

Further than that, even if you aren’t a major traveler, a travel watercolor palette may still prove incredibly useful to you. You can use these convenient sets daily to bring a creative dash of excitement to any other activity you enjoy. 

Some of these activities may include painting an impressive sunset during a picnic, appreciating the tranquil scenery around you at a park, or simply tracing the outlines of some dreamy clouds while winding down on your front porch.

How to Find the Best Travel Watercolor Set

Now that you have a better idea of just how useful travel painting sets are, the next step is to learn more about what travel paint set is best for you, depending on your specific requirements. Here, we will discuss three popular watercolor travel sets and what the associated pros and cons are so that you can decide for yourself which is the best fit for you.

Best Overall: ARTSY 42 Colors Watercolor Travel Paint Set

No top watercolor portable set list would be complete without this extensive range of colors brought to you by the well-loved ARTSY watercolor paint set. This palette offers all of the traditional colors necessary to create the artwork of your dreams in a neatly-condensed packaging; making it easy to carry around. The practical design of this palette is easily one of its biggest benefits for watercolor enthusiasts since it can be simply fanned out or put back in for easy storage.

On top of the impressive range of colors, the set also offers useful painting utensils necessary to create a watercolor masterpiece without taking up unnecessary space. Chalky watercolors that dry up after use can ruin a perfectly good palette. Luckily, the ARTSY watercolor paint set doesn’t have this problem and can be used time and time again, while working perfectly each time. Thanks to this highly sought-after set, you don’t need to choose between efficiency and quality.

Premium Pick: PRIMA Watercolor Confections – Tropicals Set

Perhaps one of the lesser-known brands on this list, the Prima travel set provides you with incredible, quality colors that are both strongly pigmented and vibrant. The Prima watercolor confections – Tropicals set has been known to be used by various mixed media artists and has generally been well-received by both experienced and amateur painters. If you’re looking for a compact travel watercolor palette that can easily fit into even the smallest of bags or even purses, this is the best choice for you. The palette’s size can be compared to that of one of today’s standard smartphones, with possibly just a little more weight to it.

More than that, the packaging itself also adds to the practicality of the set. It comes in a handy metal box, ensuring that your precious watercolors are protected against any possible damage if extra pressure is applied. The metal box also helps to keep your watercolor set intact if it mistakenly falls or slips from your fingers, as accidents occur often at the worst of times. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, the watercolors themselves sure will. This pallet comes with twelve distinctive colors that are eye-catching and of professional quality.

How to Identify the Best Travel Watercolor Set for You

It’s clear that each set will make for a useful investment and will help keep your painting passion alive, even while jet-setting the globe. However, you may have specific preferences that will determine which palette is ideal for you. Keeping those potential aspects in consideration, here are some things to look out for which may help you choose the ideal one for you.

For Those Looking to Save Money

Buying yourself a stunning watercolor set doesn’t mean that you need to break the bank in the process. Some of the best basic yet effective watercolor paint sets can be purchased online for very little. 

Keep an eye out for highly-rated products that don’t compromise on quality for the sake of affordability, resulting in an all-around win!

For Those Wishing to Have a Variety of Shades

If you’re tired of the same standard 12 watercolors offered in most standard sets and are hungry for something different, look for watercolor travel sets with as many as 24, 36, 42, 50, and more different colors in one palette. A myriad of shades can help you create just about any image that comes to mind, as you are not limited by colors. Look for packaging that stays compact despite the carried shades too, so you don’t need to worry about the set taking up extra space.

For Those Who Want the Most Vibrant Colors

Are you a fan of all things bright and beautiful, including paint palettes? There are a variety of watercolor paint sets with themed color palettes, such as a brightly-colored tropical selection. Themed watercolor palettes with vibrant shades are ideal for making artworks pop as a result of their intense hues. The best choice of watercolor palettes will depend on the individual since we all have different needs. 

However, it’s clear that there are a variety of options to choose from for enthusiastic painters on the go, regardless of one’s specific requirements.

Additional Tips and Tricks

Looking for some extra information to ensure you’re fully prepared for your next painting session on the go? We’ve got you covered with that too! Here are some useful tips and tricks to keep in mind when buying a portable watercolor set:

• Although we all want to save extra money where possible, finding the cheapest travel paint set shouldn’t be the determining factor on whether or not you wish to invest in a specific travel palette. Instead, look through the reviews given on the website from which you want to purchase the item. Mainly positive reviews are an adequate indicator that the product won’t let you down and will give you your money’s worth.

• Don’t want to limit yourself to just one set? Why not purchase an additional one or two instead for future reference? With extra palettes, you won’t need to compromise on the shades you are looking for, as inspiration may strike you without the necessary tools required to bring your vision to life. It’s best to be overprepared, after all.
• Many painters feel that the brush is the main component that determines whether or not your painting experience is a pleasant one, and the quality of the finalized product too. Taking time to do research on which brushes within these sets are musically effective for their watercolors provided will give you better insight into which set will give you the ideal brush for the look you’re trying to execute on your painting.

These simple yet effective tips will help you choose the best travel watercolor set for your needs, without any potential disappointment due to lack of information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Painting Travel Sets Compromise on Quality?

No, the right travel set will offer you convenience and quality hand-in-hand. Travel sets are simply just smaller versions of their standard counterparts and do not skip on any necessary quality, effectiveness, or even any accessories for the sake of their compact nature. To make the set smaller, they simply use smaller spaces for the watercolor holders and design the palette in such a way that it can easily fit in the most compact of spots, even in your hand! The above-mentioned sets are known for their high-quality watercolors and included accessories that are effective at helping you to create an impressive work of art. All of the sets we have discussed work wonderfully and don’t compromise on any necessary aspects.

Do Travel Watercolor Palettes Cost More?

Not necessarily, no. The pricing is reflected in the brand, available colors, and other additional utensils included. The main difference between a standard watercolor set and a travel set is the design and layout, as it should easily fold into packaging that can be carried around hassle-free. As a matter of fact, some travel sets may actually cost slightly less due to their smaller designs. Usually, though, there is no drastic difference in cost and you will be glad to know that you may even save a few bucks if you purchase your set from the right place!

Where Can I Find Reliable, Quality Compact Watercolor Sets?

With some patience and research, you may easily find high-quality watercolor sets both in-store and online. A local arts and crafts store may stock some travel watercolor sets, hopefully offering some variety. However, if you don’t come right there, you can get what you need without even needing to leave the comfort of your own home. Online retailers like Amazon offer an extensive range of watercolor sets that caters to a variety of needs you may have. Some of these potential needs may include any concerns you have over the number of colors offered, the need for adequate accessories to paint effectively, and a layout that is suitable for the nature of the set.

The post Best Travel Watercolor Set – Finding A Portable Watercolor Set% first appeared on Art in Context.

What Are Watercolor Sketchbooks?

A watercolor sketchbook is a journal or pad that is made using watercolor paper. The only thing that makes watercolor sketchbooks different from normal sketchbooks is that they use watercolor paper. Watercolor paper prevents watercolor paint from seeping through one and bleeding into others. It also prevents something called “buckling” which is when paper warps and distorts from absorbing too much water.

Many artists prefer to use sketchbooks because they are easy to take with them so that they can easily paint or draw whenever inspiration strikes. Watercolor sketchbooks are great for capturing any scenery you see while you are out and are an easy way to draft an idea as it comes to you so that you don’t have to worry about forgetting about it later.

Sketchbooks can also act as an art journal which allows you to monitor your progress over time and easily store your artworks without having to worry about them getting damaged!

Why Are Watercolor Sketchbooks Needed?

If you try to use watercolors in a regular sketchbook it will be a disaster. Normal sketchbooks are not made to be used with wet art mediums and you can destroy an entire sketchbook with just one failed attempt. Regular paper journals cannot hold water in the same way that watercolor paper journals do. Water will seep through and break down normal paper. Normal paper is also much more prone to warping and buckling than specially designed watercolor papers.

What Are the Different Types of Watercolor Sketchbooks?

If you are a watercolor artist who is looking into getting a sketchbook, make sure that you invest in the best watercolor sketchbook possible to avoid any disappointment. There are different thicknesses of paper that can be found in your sketchbooks.

The thickness or “grade” that you require will depend on your budget and skill level.

If you are a beginner that doesn’t want to go all out on an expensive sketchbook you can opt to buy a student-grade watercolor sketchbook. These are thinner than artist or professional-grade sketchbooks, but they are also more affordable.

Other than the different thicknesses or grades of watercolor sketchbooks available, you will also find a variety of different sizes available to cater to different needs. There are large, medium, and small sketchbooks available and what you choose will depend on how portable you would like your sketchbook to be, how much space you have to store and carry your watercolor paper journal, and how big you want your artworks to be.

Some sketchbooks even allow you to remove your artwork without damaging the integrity of the journal. The paper may be perforated, or the sketchbook could have a ring binder that allows for hassle-free removal of pages.

Reasons to Try a Watercolor Sketchbook

There are many reasons why every artist should try using a sketchbook. If you are a watercolor artist, you will find that you can benefit from using a watercolor sketchbook. Below we outline some great reasons you should consider getting one and trying it out for yourself!

Practice Painting and Monitor Progress

Having a sketchbook around to easily paint in at any time will encourage you to paint more frequently. This will improve your confidence as an artist and help you improve your skills at the same time. Painting more often and not being afraid to make mistakes will be the biggest factor towards your improvement over time.

Having a watercolor notebook helps you easily monitor your progress and take note of where you need improvement.

Convenience

As we briefly mentioned above, part of the charm of any sketchbook is how portable and simple it is. You don’t need to only work and paint at home. With a watercolor sketchbook, you can easily set up to paint wherever you like. If you do only want to paint at home, a sketchbook is still very easy to store and doesn’t take up as much space as canvases, big drawing pads, or easels!

Watercolor sketchbooks are great if you want little to no setup when you want to paint.

Art Journaling for Mindfulness

Many people use art as a tool to improve their mental health by channeling feelings, thoughts, or memories into the artworks they create. You can use a watercolor sketchbook as a visual journal that helps you express what you are feeling.

If you have tried writing diaries or journals before and didn’t manage to stick with them, you might find that a visual watercolor journal is just what you need.

What to Look for When Buying the Best Watercolor Sketchbook

When you start looking for a watercolor sketchbook you will find that it isn’t easy finding the right journal for your needs. Everyone has different needs and preferences and there are watercolor sketchbooks to suit everyone’s different needs. Some people may want bigger pages in their sketchbooks while others don’t mind a smaller sketchbook as long as it has premium quality paper. Regardless of what you are looking for, there is something suited to your needs.

Read through these tips to help you choose the best watercolor sketchbook possible.

Paper Quality

While you will encounter many sketchbooks suitable for watercolor, you will also find that their ability to handle large amounts of water effectively will differ. If you get the wrong kind of paper, you could fall victim to warped paper and pilling when too much water is applied. The type of paper in the watercolor sketchbook will also determine how well your sketchbook will handle techniques like lifting, layering, or scrubbing without bleeding, being broken down, or getting damaged.

Thicker papers like 200 and 300 gsm are more resilient to these effects, but if you only use light washes then you can opt for thinner paper at your own risk. You might also choose to work with a thinner paper such as 150 gsm if you work with gouache as your medium since gouache is much drier than traditional watercolor paints.

Find the right paper weight that works for your needs.

Ultimately, you want something thick enough to withstand water and use without breaking down, but also light enough to provide many pages while keeping your sketchbook light and convenient to take around with you.

Aim to find a watercolor sketchbook with paper made from 100% premium cotton if it is within your budget. While you might get away with synthetic blend fibers for your watercolor pads, a sketchbook is a very different story. Cheaper papers could very quickly bleed and buckle, which can ruin an entire sketchbook in a very short amount of time. Cotton is great for holding water and keeping colors vivid and is well worth the investment in the long run. Cotton watercolor sketchbooks are great for holding water and keeping colors vivid and are well worth the investment in the long run.

Taking a look at the number of sheets in a sketchbook will allow you to work out how much you are paying per page. If both sides (or pages) of a sheet are usable, then you are getting good value for money.

Another thing to look out for when you choose a watercolor sketchbook is whether the paper is acid-free or not. Some papers can have traces of residual acid which causes the paper to fade and turn yellow over time.

Acid-free paper variations stay white for longer, which helps you ensure that your sketchbook artworks won’t look prematurely dated or aged.

Paper Texture

Watercolor paper can be either smooth or textured, and which texture you choose will depend on certain factors, such as whether you like fine, intricate details in your work, or if you prefer to work with broader, water-dense strokes. The texture of the watercolor paper is dependent on the method of processing used to make the paper.

Choosing the right paper is an important step in deciding what sketchbook is the right one for you.

Watercolor paper that has been hot-pressed gives a very smooth result. Hot-pressed paper is great for artists who need fine detail and who do not use a lot of water in their paintings. Cold pressed paper produces a finish that is rough and textured. This paper is better suited for artists who work with a lot of water and don’t want to worry about the water sliding or dripping off the page. Cold-press watercolor paper is the most common paper choice for watercolor journals since it can prevent accidentally ruining all your pages after one mishap.

Sketchbook Construction and Quality

Once you have established the sort of paper you want in your notebook, you need to consider the construction of the notebook you choose. Do you need something with a hardcover, or will you prefer a notebook that can lay flat? Some notebooks will have softcover cardboard or linen covers while others will be thicker and more durable.

Hardcover books can stand upright on a shelf without damage while softcover books cannot, but hardcover sketchbooks cannot lay open flat as softcovers can. This means you will lose some space where the pages curve into the binding. Softcover notebooks, however, tend to unintentionally bend and can be more easily damaged over time.

Watercolor sketchbooks also have binding variations that will alter your painting experience. The binding you choose for your watercolor sketchbook will depend on your preferences. The different bindings are glue bound, stitch bound and spiral bound.

Cheaper notebooks tend to be glue bound and can come apart quite easily over time. Glue-bound pages in a notebook are generally not stitched. Stitch-bound pages are sewn together with thread and tend to be a sturdier option and have the added benefit of being able to lay flat for double-paged artworks.

If you plan on using your watercolor sketchbook as a journal then stitch-bound sketchbooks are a great choice, since you will not be needing to rip out any pages.

Spiral-bound notebooks are most commonly used for watercolor papers with a lighter weight and tend to come with perforated pages which allow you to remove individual sheets as you please. The downsides are that wires on spiral sketchbooks can become unwound and hook onto fabric and that the paper around the holes can become worn over time.

If you want artwork that covers two pages, then the spiral wire will be an interruption, but spiral sketchbooks are great for artists that want to keep their artwork flat and want to easily navigate their sketchbook.

Our Picks for the Best Watercolor Journals

Below are some of our picks for the best watercolor journals. We have chosen a premium option, a budget-friendly option, and the best value for money option. All of the choices below are made by reputable brands and have their own pros and cons for you to consider in relation to your needs.

Premium Choice: MOLESKINE Hardcover Watercolor Album

Moleskine is a premium art brand renowned for its dedication to creating high-quality art supplies for artists of all levels. This Moleskine notebook has a durable leather-like cover with thick watercolor paper pages. It also has an elastic closure band and rounded corners which make it more portable for artists who want to paint on the go. The binding of this premium watercolor journal is strong and durable enough to withstand travel and everyday use.

Best Value for Money: STRATHMORE Softcover Watercolor Art Journal

This notebook from Strathmore contains thick watercolor paper suitable for washes with copious amounts of water. Its naturally white color and cold pressed surface make for a smooth and easy painting experience with archival quality results. The notebook has a velvety soft cover and 48 high-quality pages with sewn binding, making the notebook sturdy and allowing the pages to lay flatter. The pages are ideal for lifting and scraping techniques due to their thickness and durability.

Budget Friendly Choice: HANDBOOK JOURNAL CO. Hardcover Watercolor Sketchbook Journal

Each page in this watercolor book by Handbook Journal Co. is made from 200 gsm, cold-pressed, toothy paper that can readily hold light to medium washes with ease. The notebook has 60 pages and is bound with natural, European linen that is finely woven to be more durable. There is an elastic closure band and rounded corners on the sketchbook, which make it more portable for artists who want to paint on the go. The notebook has a landscape orientation and is also suitable for media artists.

Making Your Own Watercolor Book

If you like DIY projects, you could try to make your own watercolor journal at home instead of just buying one. You might have a watercolor paper that you love and cannot imagine straying away from, which makes it tricky for you to settle on a new watercolor notebook.

The solution is to use your beloved paper to make a watercolor book all on your own!

Below, we talk you through the process of making your own watercolor paper journal for the first time. Keep in mind that there is a bit of a learning curve and making the notebook will take a bit longer than you expect the first few times. It is worth it to invest the time into making your own notebook especially if you work on a tight budget, or just want something personalized.

What You Will Need

• An old book cover (more detail on this below)
• A watercolor paper pad of choice
• A bone folder
• Masking Tape
• A needle and bookbinding thread
• An awl
• A slide cutter, scissors, or a craft knife
• Mod podge or craft glue
• A sponge or brush

Step 1

The first thing you will need to do when making your watercolor sketchbook is to find an old book that you can take the cover off of. If you have any old hardcover books sitting around that have some internal damage or don’t serve any use to you, you can use one of them.

Otherwise, you can try going to a secondhand bookstore to source some old books to use for this project.

Aside from making sure that you choose a hardcover book, you must also ensure that the cover is in good condition, that the size is correct for your needs, and that the pages of the book are sewn to the spine and not glued. If the book is glued, you will not be able to remove the book pages without damaging the spine.

Step 2

Use a craft knife or a pair of scissors to cut away the stitching from the book you have chosen. Be careful not to damage the spine of the cover during this process. If you want to keep the book contents you should also be careful not to damage the pages. If correctly done, the process of removing the pages from the spine should be quite effortless.

Step 3

Next, you will be using masking tape to reinforce the spine of your hardcover. Add multiple layers of masking tape to the spine of your book to ensure that it has been properly reinforced before you move on to the next step.

You can also add some layers of mod podge over the tape if you want extra strength and support, but it is not necessary at this point.

Step 4

Once you have reinforced the spine of your hardcover, you will start making the first signature for your watercolor book. A signature is a name for a group of pages that get sewn together along with other signatures to create a bound book.

The number of pages that go into a signature can vary depending on the book and paper type.

Since watercolor paper is thicker than most paper your signatures will contain fewer sheets than in other books. The trick to creating good signatures is to get a sharp fold across your paper so that each page fits into the other page smoothly. If the crease is not sharp, some of the internal pages will stick out.

Step 5

Fold a page of watercolor paper in half and smooth down the folded edge with a bone folder. Bone folders don’t necessarily have to be made from bone; many plastic variations are available. You can use a ruler or something else to do the job, but the results simply are not as good. Repeat this until you have the desired number of pages for your signature.

Step 6

Once you have your folded sheets of watercolor paper, you will place them inside one another to actually create the signature. With thicker watercolor papers, you will find that only around three sheets of paper can fit inside one another before it starts getting too thick. Even when you only have a few pages with sharp folds, you may find that the inner pages stick out more than the others.

You can trim the edges to fix this issue, or you can leave it as is if you do not feel that it is an issue.

Step 7

Once you are happy with your first signature, you can repeat steps four and five until you have several signatures that fit snugly into your book cover when piled on top of one another. Once you have all your signatures, you may find that they are too large for your cover and are sticking out over the edges. Use a pair of scissors, a craft knife, or a slide cutter to trim the edges of your signatures so that they fit into your cover. This step is not optional since any pages that are not protected by the cover of your journal can be easily damaged.

Step 8

Cut off two pieces of masking tape long enough to wrap comfortably across the spines of your stack of signatures. Before placing the tape anywhere on your paper, make it less sticky by placing it on a piece of clothing and removing it.

You may need to do this a few times since you will be removing the tape from your paper and putting it back throughout the rest of this project and you do not want it to be sticky enough to tear the paper.

Step 9

Place the pieces of tape across the spines of the signatures, at equal distances from the edges. Aim to place the tape about two inches in from either edge of the signatures, but there’s no need to have it be completely accurate. This tape will hold the signatures together while you sew and will remain in place once complete to help improve the overall structural integrity of your watercolor book.

Step 10

Mark the places where you will be piercing the holes for sewing. There are going to be six holes used to sew the watercolor book. Make two marks on either side of both pieces of tape and make another one an inch away from both edges of your signatures’ spines. You should now have six marks going across the spines of your signatures.

Step 11

Remove the tape and place it aside, take a signature, open it and flatten it out on a surface. Use the awl to create a hole wherever you made markings. To use the awl, place it vertically on the marking and twist it clockwise and counterclockwise. Be careful not to press too hard or to slide the pages apart as you work. Check the pages of your signature to be sure that the awl pierced through completely and then repeat this step on all of the remaining signatures.

Once complete, refold all your signatures and stack them back together.

Step 12

Work out how much thread you need by measuring the length between the holes of each signature, multiplying it by the number of signatures, and then add three to four extra inches. Select the signature from the bottom of your pile, this will be the last signature in your watercolor book. Replace the tape to the back of the signature and leave it loose on the front.

Step 13

Tie a knot on the one end of the length of the thread and start threading the needle through the lowest hole of the signature. It might be difficult to pull the thread through the holes at first because the thread has not been compressed yet.

Be careful to pull the string along the spine of the signature rather than pulling it straight out the hole, as it prevents you from putting any stress on the holes.

Step 14

Next, bring the needle up through the second hole, over the tape, and down through the third hole. Repeat the pattern of weaving in and out of each hole until you reach the last hole of the signature. Once at the last hole, gently pull on the thread to tighten it.

Step 15

Lift the loose ends of the tape, place the second signature on top of the first one that you threaded, and then secure the tape over it. Insert the needle into the top hole of the second signature and begin to thread down the spine of the second signature as you did in the last step.

Step 16

When you reach the last hole of the second signature, you will need to make a kettle stitch. Since the first kettle stitch attaches to a knot instead of a loop, it will be a little different from the others you will be making.

Wrap the thread up and around the knot on the first signature and then under the part of the thread that now crosses between the two signatures.

Step 17

Add the third signature and secure it with the tape, then start threading from the lowest hole up the spine once again. The top of the third signature will need another kettle stitch. This kettle stitch and the rest that follow will be different from the first. Take the needles under the thread that runs between the first and second signature, with the needle pointing towards the end of the book, and tighten the thread gently.

Step 18

Repeat step 17 with each of your remaining signatures to complete the main binding of your watercolor book. After completing the final kettle stitch, weave some of the remaining thread into the binding to make it more secure and trim the excess thread, leaving only an inch of loose thread remaining.

Step 19

Apply mod podge or craft glue down the spine of your block of signatures and use a sponge brush to spread it evenly. Place the spine of your block onto the spine of the book cover and then lay the book flat. Apply glue to the first page of your signature block and press the cover of the book down onto this.

Repeat this process for the back of the book.

Step 20

Smooth down the paper with your bone folder to remove air bubbles and place an extra page between the first and last pages and the rest of the book to help absorb extra moisture. Stack other books or weighted objects on top of and next to your watercolor book for added support as the glue dries.

Now that you have an idea of what to consider when you are looking to purchase a watercolor sketchbook, the only thing left to do is find one and get started. Remember not to choose a brand just because you like the way it looks or because it is a trendy choice. Always consider your individual needs and preferences as an artist. Choose the size, thickness, and binding that suits you and your style rather than what is the most expensive or most affordable. Art supplies are an investment, and it is important to save up or look around and get something that is best suited for you rather than rush into something that wastes your time and money when it isn’t correct.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Best Sketchbook Brands?

It should come as no surprise that the best watercolor sketchbooks are produced by the renowned art brands of the world. If you want a very high-quality sketchbook for your water-coloring endeavors, then you can try looking at brands like Winsor & Newton, Moleskine, Canson, or Strathmore. These are the best sketchbook brands in the world and are known for making some of the best watercolor journals too.

Can You Use Watercolor in a Sketchbook?

You can use watercolor paint in any sketchbook that has watercolor paper. If you use a sketchbook that is not designed to absorb water, then you will destroy the notebook. Use this article to help you find the best watercolor sketchbook for your needs.

Where Can I Buy My Own Watercolor Sketchbook?

You can purchase a watercolor sketchbook at just about any arts and crafts store near you, or if you prefer to shop from the comfort of your own home there are many products available to browse and purchase online. Many people find that there are more and better options available to them when shopping online. There is also lots of important information readily available to you about each product, including reviews and experiences from other customers who purchased the products.

The post Best Watercolor Sketchbook – Buy or Make Your Own Sketch Pad% first appeared on Art in Context.

Watercolor Painting Tips and Techniques

We will go over three various ways to use wet-on-wet watercolor techniques in our wet-on-wet painting tutorial. First, we will go over some basic wet-on-wet painting techniques to get a better understanding of the method. We will show you how to create two kinds of gradients: a type with one single color and the other with a couple of colors that mix into each other smoothly.

We’ll then use our wet-on-wet painting skills to create a landscape painting. Backgrounds and beautiful clouds can be created with the wet-on-wet technique. We will create some clouds in this wet-on-wet watercolor guide that you could indeed utilize as a background to portray landscapes on top. With all of that in mind, let us now go over the fundamentals of wet-on-wet watercolor painting.

Proper Preparation

Let’s make sure we have all of our materials prepared and in the correct spot for our guide before we start. As we work through this wet-on-wet watercolor lesson, we’ll want to find a quiet spot where we can focus on the steps. Furthermore, when producing wet-on-wet watercolor, you’ll need a bit of water. Make absolutely sure you have two water jars on hand for rinsing your bristles. Finally, make sure you enjoy yourself. 

Learning a new skill necessitates some concentration, but creating art is a task that can be both relaxing and enjoyable.

Creating Gradients

For generating gradients, wet-on-wet is a fantastic technique. We’ll go over some watercolor tips and tricks in this first portion of the lesson to help us comprehend how to make gorgeous and smooth gradients.

Creating Single Color Gradients

The most prevalent and helpful job to learn first when studying wet-on-wet painting is how to create a simple gradient. To begin, we use scotch tape to divide our page into two sections.

We’ll continue to coat one part of our page with water once we’ve split our page into two halves. We accomplish this by using a clean brush that has been loaded with water and applying a thin coat of water to the entire surface area.

After that, we’ll mix a color; you can choose any color or the one shown in this orange guide. For this first gradient, we’re only going to use one color. After which, at the lower part of our sectioned-off area of the paper, we’ll make strokes.

The goal is to add full bush strokes to the page from left to right. The wet strokes should move across the entire wet page. We want to gradually work these areas up the page as we make these brush strokes. As we do this, we’ll observe how the paint gradually fades as we progress up the page.

What we want to do now is make our way up the entire off-page wet segment. We do this by trying to make brush strokes up the page from side to side until we have reached part of the upper. The water, of course, allows the coat to dry uniformly, leaving no visible lines between the palest and most saturated areas of the color. If we just want the color to pop, we should immediately begin at the bottom of the section rather than the top. We want to make sure that we’re going to paint a dark-to-light gradient. 

We’ll proceed at the bottom of the page and work our way up to make this as smooth as possible.

Creating Dual Color Gradients

While our first painting dries, we will wet the next segment of our surface. Once more, we do this by filling a clean brush with water and applying it evenly across the entire surface of the section. We want a layer of water to cover the entire section.

We’ll now create a gradient with two colors that will blend together.  Let’s go with purple and blue. To start, we’ll add blue to the bottom of the page, which has been divided into sections. We’ll use thrusts to relocate the color up the section, comparable to the first gradient, allowing it to fade intuitively.

We’ll then repeat the process with a different color, which we’ll use at the top of the page. We’ll make side-to-side strokes in the same way we did in the previous phase, but this time we’ll move the color downward. The colors should be able to blend together. We want the surface to remain wet, so try to be rapid with this.

Another great tip is to keep your paintbrush wet as you layer on more color to increase the saturation of the gradients. You should paint both colors from the top or bottom of the page, gradually blending the colors together. Start at the bottom and brush strokes into the purple color along with the surface if you want to make the blue more overloaded with color. As it dries, the two colors should blend together seamlessly.

We can detach the tape from our page now. You don’t want to destroy your page, so move slowly. We should ideally now have lovely white-bordered areas surrounding our gradients. Don’t be concerned if there are perhaps a few small amounts of paint on the edges. 

You can also simply ensure that your tape firmly adheres to the page.

Creating a Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Sky

Wet-on-wet is an excellent method for creating skies and clouds. The most notable about skies is that they are all unique. This implies we can be really creative with the color schemes and paint stroke shapes we use. We will now try to create our own sky using the wet-on-wet technique, which allows the colors to blend seamlessly and can be used to create clouds.

Generating the Sky

Now we will continue this lesson by creating clouds with the wet-on-wet technique by creating a landscape. Clouds are an excellent subject for wet-on-wet watercolor painting. This is due to the fact that all clouds are unique and come in a variety of shapes and colors. To start, we tape a fresh piece of paper to our surface. We’ll then apply a thin layer of water to the entire page. We want to ensure that we add a uniform layer of water to the entire area surface of the page. We want water to cover all areas of the page, allowing color to blend into the overall design.

While the surface is still wet, we want to begin adding color strokes to it. Sky and clouds can be distinguished in a variety of ways, including color. A good color combination, on the other hand, is often yellow, blue, red, and purple. Start to add strokes of various colors in varying directions across the surface of the page.

We want to portray other colors moving in different directions at the same time. When you utilize these different colors on the wet page, the colors will blend together seamlessly. The wet layer will allow the colors to flow and spread across the page, resulting in interesting organic shapes.

Consider the form and shape of various clouds as you go through this process. Permit yourself to leave light occasions in your painting as you color these marks on the surface of your page. This will result in darker and lighter patches of the skies that mirror the aspects of the clouds in our skies.

You can be very creative at this point because all skies and clouds differ in a variety of ways. The only way to contextualize the sky is to draw a line for the horizon. This can be accomplished by creating a long stroke across the page’s bottom part. 

To start giving the quality of the ground, you only need to fill it in with a single color.

Creating the Scenery

At this juncture, we will have to let our sky fully dry. Wet-on-dry watercolor is an excellent technique to use in conjunction with wet-on-wet watercolor. We can see that with no subject matter drawn onto the background, we are left with a picture of interconnected colors.

When your sky has dried completely, we will be left with a vibrantly colored background in which all of the different colors appear to flow into one another. This can serve as a backdrop for various features that may appear in the foreground and reframe it, such as a sky. You could, for example, paint flowers.

If you’re painting flowers, you can experiment with object scale to characterize the depth of field in which your landscape is set. Painting blossoms in the foreground, for example, can be taken in context as being close up by drawing smaller trees in the background.

It’s really up to you at this moment how you want to put the colorful sky into context. Paint a pasture, trees, or flowers to accomplish this. The goal of this segment of the lesson is to show you how to use the background for artwork.

With the wet-on-wet watercolor technique, you can create a sky like this. Wet-on-wet watercolor can be used in a variety of ways; in this tutorial, we only went over a few simple examples. Wet-on-dry watercolor can also be used in conjunction with wet-on-wet watercolor. 

You’ve learned a few watercolor techniques that you can use in your watercolor paintings.

More Watercolor Painting Tips

Wet-on-wet watercolor painting is both one of the most accommodating and one of the most difficult techniques to master. It’s essential to let your imagination run wild, but if you get stuck, here are some of our best watercolor painting tips.

• While doing this lesson, try to set aside time. It will take some time and effort.
• When you wet your section, strive to maintain the water layer thin and even on the page.
• Working with wet-on-wet requires working while the page is still wet. As you paint, try to maintain a wet page.
• When ready to paint, have always two jars of water on hand.

• You would like to paint the color all the way to the end of the page when making smooth gradients that cover a large area.
• When applying water to your paper, always use bigger brushes.
• Always paint areas on your page with the water you want to be colored on. Keep an eye out for the page’s corners, as they are sometimes rather easy to overlook.

You’ll notice that the colors continue to flow into regions of the surface where the water has been implemented in this wet-on-wet watercolor lesson. Colors easily blend without any noticeable lines thanks to the water. It can be a lovely quality to include in works of art that can be utilized for a variety of purposes, such as our clouds in this lesson. You want to work quickly when using the wet-on-wet watercolor technique.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Exactly Occurs When You Produce Wet-on-Wet in Watercolor?

Wet-on-wet watercolor is a technique for painting with watercolor paints in which the paper is often sprayed with water before the paint is applied. As the color expands across the page via the channel of water, it moves more smoothly. This technique can produce smooth and lovely drying effects on paper, which is frequently used as background for more distinct and fine lines. The wet-on-dry technique is one of the best watercolor painting tips for wet-on-wet watercolor. Utilizing new paint on top of the dried backdrops, known as the wet-on-dry watercolor technique, can be a wonderful way to improve the wet-on-wet characteristics of a painting after you’ve produced a beautiful background utilizing the wet-on-wet technique. This is typically how wet-on-wet is used in conjunction with other watercolor mediums.

What Differs Between the Wet-on-Dry Watercolor Technique and the Wet-on-Wet Technique?

When we use wet paint on a wet surface, we call it wet-on-wet watercolor. This method of application can produce seamless gradients by allowing the paint to blend into one another without leaving any visible lines. Wet-on-dry, on the other hand, is a more traditional method of painting in which wet paint adheres to dry surfaces, likely to result in more distinguishing traits in a painting. Wet-on-wet watercolor is ideal for creating hazy backgrounds, gradients, clouds, and other subtle line compositions. Wet-on-dry is ideal for highlighting stark features such as trees, animal life, and other subject matter in the foreground.

What Can Be Painted With the Wet-On-Wet Technique?

The most common and traditional method of trying to paint with watercolor is to wet a section and then apply paint to that wet surface. This technique is known as wet-on-wet watercolor, and it can be used to paint a variety of subjects. Wet-on-wet watercolor is a great way to create backgrounds in paintings. This is due to the water in wet-on-wet painting, which allows the paint to blend seamlessly into the page. When you paint new spots over that dry surface, it can start creating a blurring effect, giving the page a sense of depth. Wet-on-wet watercolor clouds are another enjoyable topic to paint in. Because clouds have always been uniquely different, and come in various shapes and colors, the wet-on-wet technique appears to work well with painting clouds. Wet-on-wet watercolor is an entertaining way to create clouds by scribbling with your colors on a wet surface, which will result in a variety of shapes and colors. After that has dried, you can conveniently reframe the wet-on-wet watercolor as clouds by painting landscape landscapes like mountains or trees. It really is just about experimentation when it comes to painting.

The post Wet-on-Wet Watercolor – Tips for Wet-on-Wet Painting Techniques% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Simple Guide to Watercolor Mixing

Watercolor mixing is easy when you understand the various watercolor mixing recipes. You will be able to mix up almost any color under the sun by using your very limited paint selection. When you look at the watercolor blue, red, or any other color, there are variations to that shade that can be made using a simple watercolor mixing palette. There are many colors that are not usually inside a watercolor paint set that you can mix up yourself. If you are wondering how to make gray watercolor or other less-available colors, then this tutorial is for you! Making a color chart will allow you to make up your desired watercolor mixing palette using very few and limited watercolors. Keep reading to learn exactly what you will need to get started!

Materials Needed

As you learn the art of watercolor mixing, you will be thankful for good-quality paper. Proper paper is what will ensure your watercolor mixing palette colors are absorbed correctly. You will want to buy paper that is at least 300 GSM in thickness as this will aid in proper paint absorption, ensuring a beautiful and vibrant true color display. Paper is not the only important tool you will need when learning how to mix watercolors. You will also need good quality, preferably natural bristle, watercolor brushes. 

If you can afford a set of brushes that should be your first choice. For the purpose of our watercolor mixing palette, you will be using a flat brush.

Of course, paint is important too. If you are able to, purchase a good quality set of watercolor pan colors. You will also need some masking tape to keep your page from shifting and to help with warping, as well as a few jars of water to clean your brush. We have below a list of all the materials you will need and links to our favorite products should you wish to purchase online.

• A ruler
• A pencil
• A brush set
• High-quality paper
• Masking tape 
• A watercolor paint set

Creating a Watercolor Color Chart From Scratch

There are various watercolor mixing recipes and methods to help you on your watercolor mixing journey. Using these methods of color combining will help you understand how to use watercolor paint and make up colors that are not usually within your paint pan. If you want to make gray watercolor or variations of watercolor blue, your watercolor color chart is the first place to start. This tutorial will show you how to make a watercolor color chart showing all the beautiful colors you can create with your simple paint options.

This chart is invaluable when learning about watercolor mixing as it will help you to understand the variations of color. As you will see further on in the tutorial, you are going to create a chart or grid which will display all the colors along a horizontal axis and also down a vertical axis. Each color block you create will be 2 cm x 2 cm. Your blocks of color will move along both the horizontal and vertical axis. Each block will contain a different color combination and form part of a large color grid. The colors used in the various blocks are determined by the intersecting colors from the vertical and horizontal axis. 

If you are ready and have all your materials, let us get started with our watercolor mixing!

Step 1: Preparation

Our easy-to-follow watercolor mixing tutorial is nothing to fear. You will soon see how easy the process is. As you learn how to mix watercolors using our simple watercolor mixing recipes you will quickly discover the secrets of a good watercolor mixing palette. Each color you create will use different ratios and require some experimentation. As you learn more about how to mix watercolors you should relax and take as much time as you need. Remember, playing around with watercolor mixing recipes and learning how to use watercolor paint is a fun and peaceful process, do not rush! Put on some of your favorite music and have a good time!

Step 2: Grid Making

Most of the time, a watercolor paint pan will contain 12 colors, so our tutorial will be based on this. This means that your grid should have 12 vertical columns as well as 12 horizontal columns. You will have a total of 144 blocks to place your colors within. Using your pencil and ruler, measure along both the horizontal and vertical axis and make a mark every 2 cm. Essentially, you will have a 24 cm x 24 cm square drawn on your page with 2 cm x 2 cm blocks within it.

Step 3: Making a Vertical and Horizontal Axis With Colors

The next step, before painting, is to secure your page down with masking tape. Once you have secured the page to your surface it is time to grab your brushes and paint. Do not forget a couple of mason jars filled with water so that you are able to clean your brush after every use. In front of the first row of the horizontal axis, apply each color in its respective block. You will now repeat this process for the vertical axis.

Make sure that the colors are applied in the same sequence for both axes. If you are confused, the image below should clear that up. Your painted sections do not have to be perfect in any way, however, if you are a bit of a perfectionist, feel free to make little circles or smaller squares. Before you apply a new color, make sure you have cleaned your brush properly.

Step 4: Dividing the Grid With Colors

We will now paint the blocks of our watercolor grid. Start with the corner on the top left-hand side of the page, again corresponding with the colors in the horizontal and vertical axes. This time you will be moving diagonally towards the bottom right-hand corner. You should see a diagonal line of bright colorful blocks by the time you are done. If you are still a little confused, take a quick look at the image to clarify. Basically, you want the yellow block to meet the yellow on the vertical axis, as well as the yellow on the horizontal axis. The same applies to all the colors.

You will now notice that your watercolor grid has been split into two sections on your page. When painting your blocks, do not be too worried about creating perfect squares of color, and try to leave a small section of negative space around your paint colors. This is so your colors do not overlap later on. As always, make sure you are using a clean brush with every application of new paint.

Step 5: Filling in the Color Blocks

The second last step involves creating color combinations to fill the rest of the blocks on either side of our initial diagonal line. In order to select the correct colors, all that you need to do is match the color sequence of both the vertical and horizontal axis. Locate where the colors interact on your page and mix those two colors together. Then, apply that mixture to the block. Easy!

You might be wondering why we mentioned dividing the page in step three. Well, you may have noticed that every color is going to intersect on your grid twice. Instead of applying the exact same combination of color to both blocks, you should rather experiment with color ratios, apply a little more of one color in the first block and less of the same color in the second. Remember, do not mix up your watercolor paints on the page itself. A porcelain plate makes for an excellent surface to mix on. We cannot stress enough the importance of cleaning your brush before loading it with a new color, you do not want any of the wrong paint getting into your mixes.

It is also a good idea to work one column at a time. This will enable you to completely focus on a specific color. For example, all the shades and variety of watercolor blue. You can completely tune out any outside distraction and learn how each color interacts with another in your paint mixing. You might be tempted to just mix in the lid of your watercolor paint pan, but this is not advised. Usually, this space is quite small and the risk of colors mixing unintentionally is larger. As mentioned before, a large dinner plate is a good surface for your watercolor mixing recipes to unfold.

Pay attention while you are mixing so that you are able to watch and understand how the various colors interact with one another.

The best way to learn is to experiment with your ratios and watercolor paints. When you use different ratios, you will be able to create lighter and darker shades of a specific color. Once the lower half of your grid is complete, you can complete the upper right-hand half.

Step 6: Completing the Grid

We are almost done with our tutorial! It is time to complete the remaining part of the watercolor grid. Do not fret about which order you are placing the colors, as long as there are variations in different hues and shades which are created by using the colors that intersect along the grid.

Remember, if you apply your paint column by column, mixing will be a lot easier as you will just be adding to the already mixed paint on your plate. It is also advised to do the darker colors and black last. Of course, this is purely a suggestion. Feel free to do as you wish, there are no hard or fast rules!

As the top right-hand half of your grid begins to fill up with colors, you will see that just like before, colors intersect twice. Try to change up your ratios within your watercolor mixing recipes so that no two colors are exactly the same. If the watercolor blue in the first block is a light shade, paint your second block in a darker blue shade, and so on.

When it comes to how to make gray watercolor paint, you will need a specific recipe. This recipe is a combination of mostly black paint with a little bit of white, or the other way around if you prefer a lighter shade of gray. As with gray, you can apply this same method to all colors you mix.

Another thing to think about is mixing from light to dark. For example, if you are doing yellow, slowly add more red to make various shades of yellow and orange. It is always smart to first clean your brush before dabbing it into another color. This is because you do not want other colors mixing into your paint pan, especially darker colors into light ones! Keep your brushes clean as you work to avoid any mistakes

Last but not least, relax and take as much time as you need when experimenting with watercolor mixing recipes as you create your grid. The skill of watercolor mixing takes time to learn and perfect so do not rush the process. We know that coloring in 144 small blocks can seem daunting and a little tedious. Luckily, this tutorial allows you to set your project aside and complete it later whenever you want to!

Handy Hints and Tips for Watercolor Mixing

Every medium has its own set of handy hints and tips to help make your experience better. None of these are rules and you can do as you please, but they are incredibly helpful! While you practice and learn the art of watercolor mixing, these helpful hints will make the experience easier.

• While you paint, always have two glasses or jars of water available for easy brush cleaning while you work and also to prevent your paints from other colors.
• Remember to replace the dirty water every so often.
• As you mix your colors, you may grow tired. This project allows for easy pick up the following day.

• Your ratios can be altered and tweaked. We encourage you to play around and experiment with the paints and combinations.
• As you work, keep cleaning your brush.
• Have fun and relax! Painting is not meant to be a stressful endeavor.

This tutorial will have taught you the basics of how to mix watercolors. As your confidence grows and you learn your ratios, everything will become second nature to you! While you learn you can play around with the ratios and find the shades you like the most. This grid is your playground and you can have complete fun and control while creating your blocks of watercolor paint variations. Creating this grid is intended to teach you about the colors, how the paints work, and how they integrate when mixed with other colors. The biggest thing to remember is to have fun and not to take anything too seriously. We hope you enjoy this beautiful medium as you learn to create with watercolors!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Does One Need a Watercolor Mixing Chart?

Before you jump into the world of watercolor painting, you should first learn how to mix watercolors and about watercolor mixing recipes. Learning about color ratio and how to use watercolor paint correctly will help establish a good foundation for when you start creating art. This will make painting with watercolor more enjoyable as well as help you to completely understand how the paints work, especially with one another. A color grid is a perfect tool to help you truly maximize your skill before learning about watercolor techniques and methods.

How to Mix Watercolors That Are Popular?

As you learn and gather more information about how to paint with watercolors, you will notice that there are colors that are deemed to be more popular than others. These colors can be used to mix up ratios creating color combinations like no others! Some of these include shades of watercolor blue, burnt sienna, or even ultramarine. If you want to learn how to make gray watercolor tones or any other interesting combination of colors, you can learn how by making a grid or color chart. You will be able to create an entire and full-color spectrum after understanding how to mix the paints correctly, using just a few popular colors!

Will I Need Specific Colors to Create and Mix Watercolor Paint?

Yes and no. The primary colors are the most important color paints you will require in order to create any color you can imagine. That said, if you do not have all the primary colors, you will still be able to mix many tones, hues, and shades using just the colors available to you at the time. Of course, the more colors you have, the more diverse your watercolor mixing palette will be. Colors like white and black are useful too, especially to help lighten and darken shades. Watercolor mixing recipes are entirely dependent on your own tastes or desires and can be experimented with to a large degree. We should always remember the color wheel while we mix, but still, have fun with what we are doing because that is the only way to learn and create.

The post How to Mix Watercolors – All You Need to Know About Watercolor Mixing% first appeared on Art in Context.

Before You Start Painting With Watercolors

Watercolors are easy to get drawn into, but one must not rush and first make sure to learn how to watercolor correctly. Understanding these watercolor basics and learning about all the wonderful watercolor painting tips is very important if you want to create beautiful pieces. Luckily, learning this medium is easy, watercolor paintings are quite literally for everyone, no matter their skill level. Before you start painting with watercolors, learning these watercolor techniques will greatly benefit you and your future with this medium. Remember to relax and have fun!

Materials Needed

First things first, when learning how to paint with watercolor, you will need good-quality paper. The best type of paper to use is a 300 GSM or higher grammage paper which can be purchased at most craft stores or online. You will also need some good-quality brushes specifically made for easy watercolor painting. Of course, you will need paint in order to create your artwork.

Your choices are endless and completely depend on what you can afford and what is available to you.

 Always, where possible, purchase the best quality paintbrushes you can afford. Higher quality products are easier to use and also last for longer. Last on our list of needed materials is a roll of masking tape. This is to ensure your paper does not move while you are painting with watercolors. Here is a list of the materials you will need:

• A set of watercolor paintbrushes
• Watercolor paper of at least 300 GSM
• A watercolor paint set
• A ruler
• A roll of scotch or masking tape

Proper Preparation

If you want to be able to paint with watercolor, decent paper is very important. Without good paper, your painting will never reach its full potential. Poor paper quality will affect even the best artist’s work. Another factor to take into account is that when we use this medium, we are using water. This means that our paper needs to be able to withstand the water and not warp. Using scotch or masking tape to hold your paper down will help keep everything in place and restrict your paper from shifting. For this “how to watercolor” tutorial, we have divided our paper into eight sections using a ruler and some masking tape. Resulting in eight equal spaces to practice each of the upcoming watercolor techniques.

A Beginner’s Guide to Watercolor Techniques

When painting with watercolors, you will notice that they are hard to control. The paint tends to go where it wants, making it a very loose medium. You need to accept and allow this lack of control and let the paint move, so being relaxed is important. You will struggle with watercolor basics if you cannot let go of control or perfectionism.

By learning these watercolor painting tips and watercolor techniques, you should be able to eventually gain confidence as well as create a small amount of control within your artwork. We will now teach you eight different watercolor techniques and you can try each one out on the demarcated space within your paper. 

Remember to relax and try to be carefree – your artwork will be all the better for it! 

Paint Lifting Technique

Lifting is a useful watercolor technique when one wants to make negative space to paint within or to create effects such as clouds or light marks. This specific technique involves actually lifting the paint from your paper’s surface. Here we show you how to make clouds using the lifting technique.

To start, you will paint your first block with a light coat of water. This is an essential watercolor basic that you will use for all your artwork. When your water is thinly spread over the demarcated block you can use some blue watercolor paint. Apply the paint all over the section of the paper and use a lighter shade. You now need to act quite fast as the paint needs to still be wet in order to lift. Using a clean, dry brush, firmly begin rubbing the paint off.

You could also use a paper towel or tissue paper if you prefer not to use a brush. Remember, you are creating clouds so squiggle your hand while you rub in order to give it a natural effect. This is one of the most well-known and easy watercolor painting techniques around. Everyone should learn how to do it. 

There are so many different things you can create with this watercolor technique aside from clouds, your imagination is key!

Dark to Light Effect Technique

Usually, when we paint, we start in light and end in dark. This is what makes this watercolor technique so unique – we do it the opposite way! In other words, we use the darker color before the lighter one. You can start by once again coating your demarcated block with a thin water layer.

Now, you can apply a very dark color. Our example shows us using a dark blue shade of paint. You will start using a lighter shade, we have used the light blue that was used in our first block. You will again have to act fast when applying the darker blue.

While still wet, you may want to try adding some other colors to the paper’s edges. These colors will seep and mix into your paint creating beautiful and unpredictable combinations of color. You will now need to allow the page to dry ever so slightly so that it is damp rather than wet.

Next, we add a bit of color in splotches onto the damp paper. We have used yellow and red in our example. You are essentially creating what is known as a cauliflower back run. Allow your paper to dry totally, it should take roughly one hour. You can now apply more light color paint dots and flecks. 

The end result will be quite abstract and organic, much like water lilies on a dark and beautiful pond or even fireflies in the night sky.

Seamless Gradient Technique

Our next watercolor technique is a sure watercolor basic. A simple, yet efficient, gradient. While you may think it is very easy, in order to create a seamless gradient does require proper technique. Your full attentiveness is needed and, if you do it correctly, you should be left with a beautiful result. Gradients are useful when painting horizons, sunsets, or landscape backgrounds especially.

For our example, we have chosen a shade of red. Again, we will prime our demarcated area of paper with a thin water layer. Next, use a thick stroke of paint to the top of your paper. While the paper is still wet, we again must act swiftly in order to create a smooth and effortless effect. Using gentle, swift motions from left to right we now bring the paint down to the bottom of our paper section. You must try to stay consistent throughout the process. As your brush loses pigment and becomes less saturated, the amount of paint on the paper will decrease, ultimately creating the gradient effect.

If you wish, you can go over the paint with another layer or even with a different color. This must be done while your page is still wet and using the same motion and movement pattern. To ensure a seamless gradient, you will simultaneously be stroking the paint downwards. After the page has fully dried, your gradient should appear completely seamless without any lines. You may find that you need to practice this one a few times in order to get it just right. 

Another thing to remember is the amount of paint used for the space, if you start with too much, you will struggle to bring your gradient down to a very light color.

Splatter Technique

This watercolor effect is a firm favorite and helps create the perfect galaxy. It is fun to do and works very well when painting with watercolors. In our example, we have created a mesmerizing cosmos.

Just like before, we need to first apply our thin water layer to the section of paper to be used. We will now build up the layers, similar to the dark and light technique. Firstly, apply a light blue to your wet paper along both sides of the section.

See our image that follows for a better understanding of what to do. Making sure the page is still wet, add another layer of the same light blue shade. Next, we will add a layer of darker blue and we can darken it even more by using some purple or even a little bit of black.

The center of the page should remain somewhat blank and unpainted as the colors will all seep towards it, creating a beautiful and unpredictable blend. Add some more purple and black along the sides once again to help darken it up and create more texture. You should notice the colors bleed into one another and sort of gather in the center, helping to create darker edges and a lighter middle. Your Milky Way or nebula is now taking form nicely.

Allow the page and paint to dry fully before doing the final touch of this watercolor technique. Use a paintbrush to drip or an old toothbrush and dip it into white paint. You can rub your thumb along the bristles of the toothbrush to create the splatters. If you are using a paintbrush for this, you will need to tap it. In our example, we have used an old toothbrush to create our spray of paint. If you accidentally drop a larger blob onto your art, some paper toweling should work in removing it if done while the paint is still wet. 

When you are finally happy with your spray, you can allow the artwork to dry. It should look just like a little galaxy!

Wet on Dry Technique

We are halfway through our eight easy watercolor painting techniques and hope you are feeling more confident! Our first few involved using wet paint and wet paper. Now, we will try some wet to dry techniques. As the name suggests, we will paint onto a dry surface. It will help when adding details that you want to stand out prominently. We will create a mini landscape for our example.

First, we want to create a background to work with, so we will start with a thin coat of water evenly applied to the demarcated area Using a nice green, we will create a gradient, this time moving upwards and beginning at the bottom.

While our paper is still wet, we can add another coat of green at the very bottom of the marked-off section. This will help create contrast. Once done, you can make swift and quick side-to-side strokes, moving your hand up all the way to the top of the paper. The next step is to take your brush and saturate it with green paint, this is to paint the line as seen towards the top of the paper. Do not paint a line right across, but rather use short and little side-to-side markings which move upwards. 

Your paper must still be wet for this to work correctly.

You should now have what looks like a row of trees in the distance. Once your page has completely dried, you will have a beautiful background to paint on. Using this technique allows you to create beautiful watercolor backgrounds with more detailed foreground paintings. You can now mix up or choose a dark brown shade of watercolor paint and create one vertical line along the page. See the image that follows if you are confused.

This line will be the trunk of your tree. Now, we will create branches that will extend horizontally from the trunk. To help create a natural-looking branch, keep your wrist loose and lightly allow it to squiggle. Allow this layer of paint to dry and then you can add leaves to your branches. Use some yellow paint and create flecks along each tiny branch in a dotting action. Again, you will need to add some detail when this layer of paint is fully dried. 

You could use darker brown to create more depth on your tree trunk and branches and add some darker leaves using various green shades.

Wet on Wet Paired With Wet on Dry Technique

For this part of our easy watercolor painting tutorial, we will learn how to paint water using watercolor paint! You can use this method to create an ocean or a lake. The same method is often used when painting a sunset with watercolor or even for other kinds of landscapes. Water, however, may seem quite challenging to create with paint. That said, if done correctly and the right technique is used, you should be pleased with your end results. First, we once again paint our section with a thin water layer. 

While still wet, we will use a very similar action as we used for the gradient effect but, instead of covering the entire page or section, we will create negative space by pulling our hand back to interrupt the motion. While the paint is still wet, we will create some darker contrast using a small amount of black or very dark blue. Then, using the same darker blue shade of paint we will put darker strokes starting at the bottom of the page. You should fade this darkness as you reach the top of the page by using less frequent strokes with less pressure.

The idea is to allow the darker blue to seep and intertwine with the lighter blue paint. This will help create the illusion of water or waves and create depth. Once this layer has dried, we will add some blue strokes again. Use a side-to-side motion while moving your hand up the page swiftly, allowing the color to fade as before. You want your strokes to be slightly jagged, so allow your wrist to move freely from side to side.

At the same time, you want to also move your hand in a slight wavy up-down motion and then allow it to dry again. Lastly, you will apply your dark blue onto the paper. Focus on the bottom of your section to create depth. Remember to be cautious when using your dark paint and be wary of applying too much. You still want the light colors to show in order to create the rippled water effect. Every layer must dry before another is applied, so take your time and be careful of over application. 

To finish your piece off, you can add some final flecks and strokes with white paint to help create the light reflections on the water.

Back Runs or the Cauliflower Technique

The black runs or cauliflower technique is very common and used quite frequently amongst watercolor painters. It can help create some very beautiful color combinations and effects that are hard to replicate. In our mini-tutorial for this technique, we will show you how to create abstract flowers. Another excellent method to master.

First, we apply a water layer to the demarcated section of the paper. You can use a bright and vivid orange color or mix one yourself. Apply a stroke at the top of your section and allow your hand to move left and right as you move towards the bottom of the page.

This time, we want to leave the page to dry until damp and not fully dry. You will now select another color (we have used red) and dot the page with a blob of paint. Once the red paint seeps into the dampness of the page, you can add another blob of color over it. We have used blue for this. You will notice that the paint has what is called a “back run effect” and it stops as the page dries. This creates a beautiful and classic watercolor effect.

Again, when the blue paint is damp, we will again apply another color. In our example, we have used white. As can be seen in the image above and below, you are creating a layered flower. This flower will have lots of unique contrast and color because you allowed it to seep in and then applied more color before it dried completely. Once the page has dried you can start adding more detailed and general lines to your image. Adding a dot to the center of each flower will also help give it depth and that little bit of extra detail. Add more of these where you feel they are necessary. To polish this piece off, you can add some green to the petals. 

Do not get too precise about this or the shape of the petals. Keep your hand loose and body relaxed.

Salt and Watercolor Technique

Head to the kitchen and grab some salt to master this awesome and fun watercolor technique. Often, the best effects can be achieved by using items that are not normally in your artist’s closet. If you want to paint abstract pieces or even snowflakes falling, the salt technique will be right up your alley.

You should have one last demarcated section of paper left. Begin by applying a thin and even layer of water to this section in order to prime it. Now, choose an orange paint or mix up your own (make sure if you are mixing your own colors to do so beforehand because you do not want the paper to dry). This time, you will be fading your color from both top and bottom with the lightest color being in the center of the page.

While your paint is still wet, take a pinch of salt and sprinkle it onto the painted section. Remember to act fast as you need the paint to be wet, not damp. You will see that once the paint has dried, the salt has pulled some of the pigment off of the page. The effect can be very interesting and organic as well as very unique. This is the perfect effect for a desert landscape, a snowy landscape, or other types of surfaces. Your imagination is all that you need!

When the paper is completely dry, you can simply use a finger to glide over the image and remove the salt. A quick and easy way to create a beautiful and unique effect on your watercolor artworks. 

Now that you have completed all eight watercolor techniques, you can carefully remove the masking tape. And, that’s that! You have learned eight of the watercolor basics needed to create stunning but easy watercolor paintings. Learning how to watercolor has never been more fun!

Easy Watercolor Painting Tips and Tricks

This medium is so diverse and beautiful and there are so many more exciting and interesting techniques you will still learn. Experimentation is always encouraged when it comes to watercolor painting, there are no hard and fast rules. That said, here are some more watercolor painting tips to help you on your way.

• Slow and steady wins the race. Take breaks, breathe, go slowly! Rushing will never give you the best results when painting with watercolor.
• Tape down your page every time. This underestimated tip could be your saving grace because it will prevent your page from warping and also prevent it from moving

• A porcelain plate is a great artist’s palette. This is because of the smooth texture of porcelain, which helps tremendously when mixing and blending watercolor paint.
• Jars of water are very useful. Keep a jar of water on your desk to make the brush clean up faster. You will want to clean your brush before loading it with a new color every time.

Watercolor painting is so much fun, why would you not want to dabble in this beautiful art form? Not only is it a relaxing way to unwind, but it is such a rewarding medium. Once you begin learning the various techniques, many ideas will come to mind. Remember to allow that creativity to flow and your imagination to run free! We hope that our easy-to-follow tutorial has given you some motivation to get started with your watercolor journey!

Take a look at our watercolor painting techniques webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Basic Watercolor Techniques?

There are quite a lot of different ways you can use watercolor paint, all of them resulting in different and beautiful effects. The most commonly used techniques are wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry. As you learn about watercolor and how to use these methods, you will soon realize that the door has only just been opened. There are so many different techniques that fall under each method. For the wet-on-wet method, you prime your paper with a thin layer of water and then apply wet paint. For the wet-on-dry method, you allow your surface to dry first, or paint on a blank page without any water priming.

What Are the Top Watercolor Painting Tips?

When you first start learning how to watercolor, you should start with a good quality paper of at least 300 GSM or thicker. You will also want to make sure to use masking tape to tape your page down. This is to avoid the paper from warping and of course, to keep your page in place while working with it. It is also highly beneficial to purchase the highest quality brushes you can afford as good brushes make painting so much more pleasant. They will also last longer! 

What Are the Different Watercolor Techniques?

There are so many different watercolor techniques out there for you to try, and each technique can be adjusted. experimented with. It is entirely possible that while you are learning how to watercolor that you stumble upon a technique or method that nobody else has! Some of the most commonly used watercolor techniques include the gradient technique, which is when you paint a seamless fade of color. Another awesome one to try is dry brushing, which helps to add texture to your artwork as well as some details.

The post Watercolor Techniques – A Comprehensive Guide to Watercolor Basics% first appeared on Art in Context.

Basic Watercolor Techniques

Watercolor paint is quite versatile, and you can use it in many ways, including with other mediums. For example, you can use watercolors with acrylics, gouache, and pastels to create unique art pieces. You do not need all that much when it comes to painting with watercolors, just some watercolor paints, brushes, and paper. This is why many also like to travel with watercolors as they are easy to transport and use.

Watercolor paint does dry quickly if you have not oversaturated the paper, which is another reason it is perfect for traveling. There are many effects you can create from layering to color washes. You can create beautiful subtle paintings, but you can also go for more vibrant choices. There are many watercolor painting ideas available, however, some are more difficult than others. The first thing you should do as a beginner is to learn all the essential watercolor techniques. Blending watercolors is one of these essential techniques and creating a watercolor mixing chart is one way how you can learn to mix your paints to form various hues. 

Watercolors can be challenging initially, however, as with many things, practice makes perfect. Here are three basic watercolor techniques to get you started.

Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Paint Technique

This watercolor technique can help you to paint landscapes and things like water and the sky. The technique is quite simple. You wet the canvas with water and then apply the paint. This is also a great way to blend watercolors. Make sure you wet your watercolor paper until it is damp, you do not want it to be soaked with water. You simply then load the brush with watercolor paint and touch it down onto your paper. You should observe the paint blooming or spreading.

Wet-on-Dry Watercolor Paint Technique

This is another simple technique, similar to the above but the paint goes on dry paper instead. This is the more common and traditional way of painting and is great for adding details and providing clean, sharp edges. This technique is something you can use alone, or it can be used with other watercolor techniques. 

Load your brush with paint and then apply to your watercolor paper.

Creating Watercolor Washes

This watercolor technique can be used to create nice, even coverage over the paper. You can also use it to create faded colors and to blend colors easily. You might have to practice these techniques before getting them right. There are three kinds of washes and are they are as follows.

• Gradient wash: Use a single color to create a graded wash, which means there is a gradual change in the intensity of the paint color. For this, you can use either the wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry technique. You usually begin with a more vibrant, intense color, which changes into a less intense or lighter color.

• Variegated wash: This uses two or more paint colors, which incorporates the wet-on-wet technique. Similar to your gradient wash, the wet paper helps the colors to blend.
• Flat wash: This involves using one color that is applied evenly over the paper and you will need to prepare a fair amount of paint to get consistent coverage.

Watercolor Paint Supplies

As mentioned, you do not need all that many supplies to begin watercolor painting. However, depending on what watercolor painting ideas you are going to do, you might need to add a few more items to the list. Here is a basic watercolor supply list of things you might need.

• Watercolor paints
• A paint palette
• A set of brushes
• Correct watercolor paper
• At least two or more cups of water
• Pencil and eraser
• Paper towels
• If needed, a drawing reference, for example, a flower from the garden

Watercolor Ideas

There are so many watercolor ideas, we hope we have covered most of them. However, the ideas are only limited to the imagination, so you can always add more ideas to the list. When starting to watercolor paint, it is always great to follow tutorials that show you how to paint step-by-step. These not only help you to paint but will teach you useful skills you will need. Keep an eye out for some of these tutorial links in this article.

Watercolor Flowers

Flowers are a popular choice to paint in any medium as there are many different types, shapes, and colors to choose from. It could also be as simple as picking a flower in the garden to paint, whatever it might be. So, there are all kinds of watercolor flowers you can paint, however, roses are rather a common and well-liked subject. You can use soft or bold colors to create beautiful unique rose paintings. 

There are boundless other ideas and flowers to paint, let us take a look at a few more examples.

• Beautiful and bright sunflowers
• Vibrant poppies
• Tulips
• Hibiscus
• Garden flowers in a vase
• Watercolor leaves
• Herbs and botanicals
• Dandelions

When using watercolors, you can combine them with other mediums. A simple example is combining watercolors with a pen. This can be done by painting your watercolor flower and then adding details and outlines with a pen. A simple technique is to apply a wet-on-wet technique to your watercolor paper and create a background, then draw in a basic line-art flower. Simple, easy, and one of many beginner watercolor ideas.

Another popular idea is watercolor wreaths. These are great for making greeting cards as there is space in the center to write something, while the flowers surround the open space. If you feel that an entire flower is too challenging, then why not attempt a section or part of a flower instead.

You also do not have to stick to traditional colors, you can experiment with various colors, some enjoy making a rainbow-like color effect that is quite eye-catching. You could also create different textures by using other painting tools besides paintbrushes, for example, sponges.

Watercolor Trees

Watercolor Trees are also popular and there are many ways you can paint them. You can try the single tree, the forest, or focus on parts like the leaves or pinecones. There are various colors and shapes of trees to choose from. If you are a bit afraid to begin painting trees, try an abstract version first.

This could mean painting with any color you wish, instead of using traditional and natural colors.

 You could also then play around with form a bit more, without having to worry too much about details. Watercolor silhouette trees are also quite popular, where a basic silhouette is created against a colorful background. When using this technique, you are not required to stick to trees, you can use any object. For example, mountains, boats, a palm tree, a girl on a swing, a cactus, or other landscapes.

Trees are also a great way to create something like a fall watercolor painting. What better way than to depict seasonal changes, than through the various stages trees go through. A fall watercolor painting could have rich brown, yellow, red, and orange colors. Spring could bring in beautiful colored flowers, while winter could have some amazing snow scenes.

Watercolor Clouds

Watercolor Clouds can be a great way to learn how to create various gradients of color. For example, from dark gray to white and all the color in-betweens You can also have fun and add in details and patterns using a black finer liner pen. Naturally, clouds are involved in beautiful sunrises and sunsets. 

Painting a sunset with watercolors is a favorite amongst many artists. The process can also be as detailed or as simple as using three colors to create a beautiful watercolor art piece. Clouds are in the sky, which usually forms part of a landscape, which leads us into the following few examples of watercolor art you can try.

Watercolor Landscapes

If you love to travel, then painting watercolor landscapes might be your favorite pastime. There are so many ideas, that choosing can be difficult. Many artists like to choose scenes that inspire them at a given moment. Maybe a painting of a sunset watercolor. However, here are a few more ideas you might want to try out.

• Watercolor beach landscape : the beach is an all-time favorite with the ocean, sand, and open sky.
• Water Surfaces with watercolors: think lakes, streams, puddles, and raindrops.

• Mountain landscapes: the mountains could be snow-capped, and as a backdrop to a forest or lake. Instead of mountains, think rolling hills or a road through a wheat field.
• Desert Landscapes: this type of landscape can be rocky or sandy, with cacti or dried tree stumps. Consider sand dunes or an oasis.
• Scenery at the Lake

Cities and Travel Watercolor Ideas

This can easily also connect with your landscapes, any scene that can be painted. If you are visiting a coastal town, you might enjoy painting the boats or ships in the harbor. Lighthouse paintings are quite popular, you could even use a template if you need a little help. How about painting your city skyline? Many cities are well-known for their city skylines.

Maybe you want to keep it simple, another popular watercolor art idea is to paint doors and windows. Think about those old country windows with white shutters and flowers all around or beautiful old doors in stone cottages. You might even want to reverse this idea and paint a scene that looks out from a window onto a landscape.

Abstract Watercolor Paintings

If you are an absolute beginner and you do not think you could paint anything we have mentioned so far, then why not try some things that fall under beginner watercolor ideas. Abstract painting with watercolor is less intimidating, and you have more flexibility in what you wish to achieve. You can experiment with different forms and colors, and it could be anything from trees to flowers and animals or simply using different colors.

You can also use various techniques like using a sponge or toothbrush. Splatter painting is a fun and easy way to start, using either of these tools. Simply load your toothbrush with paint and then take your finger and run it along the bristles to spray or “splatter” the paint onto the surface.

Another easy and fun technique you could try is known as “Hirameki”.

You know when you see faces in patterns or bunnies in clouds, this is exactly what this technique uses. You simply apply watercolor brush marks or splotches using different colors and see what shapes and images you can discern. Wait for the paint to dry and then add in details using a pen of what you can see. This can be entertaining for both kids and adults.

Watercolor Butterfly and Insects

There are thousands of different insects that have various shapes and colors. Watercolor butterflies are a great example and can be painted by those still learning but can also be a challenge for those who are more experienced painters. If this is something that interested you, you might want to make a collection of insects you encounter every day.

Watercolor Galaxy

Want to create something beautiful, that might seem difficult to create but is quite simple if you follow some basic watercolor techniques like creating a background and using the splattering technique, you are on your way to creating a beautiful watercolor galaxy.

Watercolor Food

Many easy watercolor ideas are right under your nose every day. A few of the more familiar ideas are food-related. For example, painting fruit in a bowl or a lone bunch of grapes. These are great everyday items that can help you to practice the various watercolor techniques. 

Some more food ideas can involve painting the following.

• Lemons or pears
• Watermelons
• Cakes, cupcakes, or donuts
• Vegetables
• Ice-cream cones
• Waffles
• Bacon and eggs
• Avocado
• Pasta
• Wine

Using Watercolor Pens

You can paint watercolors with watercolor pens, which are easier to carry around and use. The pens make it easier to add more precision painting and are great for journaling and other on-the-go painting. You also get watercolor pencils, which can be used as a pencil, or you can use them as watercolors. These watercolor tools are a great addition to any artist’s supplies and can be used to paint anything you wish. You can also read our watercolor pencil tutorial.

Watercolor Paint Animals

Animals may be challenging for beginners, but with enough practice, you can develop the shapes and different textures. Just like everything else, there are many ideas, but some more widespread options include paintings of birds. These can include all types of birds from the small garden variety to owls, eagles flamingos, roosters, and peacocks. There are a lot of other animals watercolor painting ideas, choose something that interests you the most.

• Elephants or other wild African animals
• Foxes
• Rabbits or squirrels
• Sea animals

• Snakes
• Tigers
• Dogs or cats
• Raccoons
• Wolves

Watercolor Objects

These can be easy watercolor ideas and can be very simplistic. Take everyday objects and make them into watercolor paintings. For example, a balloon, which is easy and fun to paint. You can paint a single balloon or make it a bunch of balloons. You can add a single color or make it a rainbow of colors, use your imagination. Other objects can be as simple or more challenging, for example, a teacup, umbrella, clock, lamppost, or a bicycle. How about watercolor gemstones? 

This can also be quite a fascinating subject to paint as a gemstone usually has many sides and shades of color.

Musical Instruments

Maybe you have a love for music and playing an instrument? Many instruments can be made into watercolors, where you can create anything from a beautiful violin painting to a guitar or saxophone. The watercolors can also be as detailed as you wish them to be or create something more abstract.

Mixed Media Watercolor Art Ideas

As already mentioned, there are various methods to watercolor painting, and paintbrushes are not the only means of applying the paint. Not only are there different methods, but you can also use other mediums with watercolors. For example, you can use acrylic paints, inks, pastels, pencils, and watercolor paints together. Also, you can paint on different surfaces besides watercolor paint. 

In this way, you can create mixed media art.

Monochrome or Vibrant Watercolor Ideas

When choosing watercolor painting ideas, you can decide to go for a more monochromatic look and use a single color. This is a great way to learn how to create different tints and shades of the same color. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you can also go for multiple vibrant colors, and create a surreal rainbow effect. Even if you are painting realistic animal pictures, you can still go for a vivid palette of colors without sticking to the natural colors.

Watercolor Paper Collages

This is a bit of a different twist on using watercolors. Maybe you have some paper that has been washed with watercolors that you are considering throwing away. Instead of throwing it away, use the paper to create watercolor paper collages. In other words, use and cut the paper to form images. 

You could also specially create colored watercolor paper for this technique.

Watercolor Portraits

This could be one of the most challenging watercolor ideas as painting the human form can be daunting. This might not be a beginner watercolor idea, but with practice, you can create some amazing portrait paintings. You could also go for a more abstract painting, where you can add in more colors or effects. You could also choose to try pet portraits instead.

If you are studying or simply enjoy fashion design, using watercolors in your design layouts can be fun. This is a great way to create clothing pictures with color and detail. If you want to do something easier and more fun, why not try some watercolor emojis instead. You can also incorporate watercolors into your photographs. You can do this by printing out black and white photos and then painting in color with watercolor paints.

Words and Watercolors

Watercolor can also be used to create word art. The watercolor pens might be a good idea for this type of painting, to be able to apply more precision. You can easily create beautiful greeting cards and wall art. If you do not want to do this freehand, there are stencils you can use to make it easier. You could also make your word printouts even more spectacular by adding watercolors. For example, choose a word or short phrase and print this out with space at the bottom. 

Once printed, you can add watercolors at the bottom of the wording to create a more unique and customized wall art piece.

Creating Watercolors Using Negative Space

This technique involves painting around a certain shape with a darker color. So, you are only painting within the negative space and the main composition or subject of the painting. For this technique, you can use masking tape or fluid for sharper edges, and it also helps to prevent the paint from bleeding into the space. For example, think of a white tree shape against a darker background.

Watercolors and Kids

Watercolors are easy and safe to work with, something everybody can use. This makes watercolor paints perfect for kids to paint with. There are many fun and exciting ways you can use watercolor paints with kids. 

Below are three simple ideas.

Create a Rainbow Painter

There are two ways you can do this. This first is to take a giant chip clip, a few cotton balls, and your watercolor paint. Dip the cotton balls into the paint and line them up in the clip so you can hold the clip and paint the rainbow with it. You could also use the cotton balls dipped in paint to place or glue onto the paper in the shape of a rainbow.

Raised Salt Watercolors

This is one of the many easy watercolor ideas you can do with kids. All you need is some paper, glue, salt, and watercolor paints. Draw your design using glue onto some paper. Sprinkle the glue with the salt and shake any excess off. 

Then take your paintbrush and add watercolor to the raised glue-salt surface and watch the paint run along the lines.

Blowing Paint

This is a simple way to paint and can be fun for both kids and adults. Place a few drops of paint onto your paper and use a drinking straw to blow the paint around the paper, forming a variety of shapes and blends of color.

This guide to watercolor painting ideas is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and you are only limited really to your imagination. Watercolor painting is a great way for people to express themselves, but some might not know where to start. The best thing you can do is not overthink too much. Choose something to paint, even if it does not come out as expected, learn, and try again. The point is to be creative and to simply have fun.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Watercolor Painting Hard?

When compared to other mediums, many find that painting with watercolors can be demanding. Many artists prefer using oil or acrylic paints as they are less forgiving. However, watercolor painting has its own benefits and there are many watercolor techniques and ideas you can start with.

What Are Some Easy Watercolor Ideas?

There are quite a few watercolor ideas you can try that are fairly easy to complete. Some of the easier subjects include flowers and birds. Various landscapes can also be a good starting place. Try to pick an easy item or object to paint. For example, a balloon or banana.

What Are Three Basic Watercolor Techniques?

There are three watercolor techniques that artists use most of the time. This includes your wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and watercolor wash techniques. These techniques should be practiced and can form the basis of all your watercolor paintings.

What Makes Watercolors Unique?

Watercolor painting is unique when compared to other mediums in its luminosity or transparency. Other mediums like acrylic paints are opaque, while watercolors provide a different appearance by being able to reveal the substrate underneath, which is usually white paper. This also makes it difficult to fix any mistakes once the paint has dried.

The post Watercolor Painting Ideas – Easy Watercolor Techniques for Beginners% first appeared on Art in Context.

An Easy Guide to Painting Watercolor Skin Tones

Watercolor Skin tones can be tricky if you do not know the fundamentals of what makes different kinds of skin tones. The trick with skin tones is that it is about understanding watercolor skin tone mixing. We need to first understand the primary colors as the fundamental elements that are manipulated to create variations between dark and light watercolor skin tones. How we understand the ratios of these three colors will ultimately describe what kinds of watercolor skin tones we create. With that being said, let us see what materials we will need.

Necessary Materials

As we learn different watercolor skin tones, there are a few items we will need for this tutorial starting with a pencil to make some blocks for a skin tone chart. We want to draw a series of blocks in which we will paint various skin tones. This will allow us to compare different watercolor skin tones to one another, giving us a good sense of the spectrum and variety we can achieve within this exercise. We will need some good paintbrushes, watercolor pan paints as well as good paper, preferably 300GSM in thickness. All items can be found online through the links below:

• Paintbrushes
• 300 GSM paper
• Watercolor pan paint
• Pencil

Preparation

As we learn how to make skin color with watercolor, we want to make sure that we place ourselves in a space that is quiet and conducive to focusing. With this watercolor skin tone tutorial, we will be experimenting with a skin tone chart which means we don’t need to worry about perfecting the skin tones. Rather, this is an exercise that introduces us to the basic concepts associated with making watercolor skin tones. 

So, with all our materials ready let us go through this tutorial on how to paint watercolor skin tones.

Instructions for Painting Watercolor Skin Tones

In this tutorial we will be making a skin tone chart, experimenting with different skin tones colors and mixes. As we go through this tutorial, we will go through the basic color mixing process of the three primary colors. Red, blue, and yellow are the essential colors that are the foundation for all watercolor skin tones. We will also learn how to use opacity as a key tool that can help to define a lighter or darker skin tone.

We will also learn how we can add more pigmentation to give a thicker consistency in the skin tone. We will also see how adding layers can also help to dark skin tones or how light washes can create lighter skin tones. All skin tones are different so let us approach this tutorial with experimentation as we play around with color combinations to achieve a variety of different skin tones. With all that said, let us get into it:

Making a Skin Tone Chart

Let us begin by making a skin tone chart. You can make as many squares as you would like in your chart. However, try to make them the same size and separate them by at least a centimeter. A good suggestion is to make a chart of five by seven blocks. We want enough to explore a good number of skin tone variations.

Experimenting With Primary Color Ratios

We first want to understand that the ratio between the three primary colors is the foundation for achieving whichever skin tone we want. Essentially what we will do is experiment with just the primary colors by adding a little more or less of one of the colors to a mix to achieve different watercolor skin tones. Let us begin with a lighter skin tone by making a diluted mix of just red. Give the watered-down red a really small hint of yellow. We want to keep our mixes highly diluted for lighter skin tones. A diluted mix of predominantly red with a hint of yellow will create a soft brown.

We are also trying to experiment with opacity, given that watercolor can affect the transparency of a color. This is why we want to keep our mixes highly diluted as opacity works as another method of making light skin tones. If we want to make the next color slightly more peachy, we can simply add a bit more red to the mix. Try to be very subtle when adding pigment to your mixes.

As we start to create darker skin tones, we will slowly work in hints of blue to our already existing mix of diluted red and yellow. We want to keep this mix which will have pigment slowly added to it each time we want to make a darker skin tone. As we add blue to the mix, we will see that the mix will start to darken slightly.

Now what we want to do is slowly start adding a little bit of yellow, red, or blue to our current mix of paint, slowly darkening the skin tone each time. Pay attention to the color as you add it to the paper. The paint on the paper is going to look different from the paint mix on your palette.

As you add more hints of blue and red, a great concept to keep in the back of your mind is that if the ratios are in equal parts the color will neutralize and resemble a grey color. We change this to a warmer human color by adding a touch more of either blue or red with smaller hints of yellow. This will not only darken the skin tone but will also give it a peachy warm tone within the darker skin tone.

Trying Different Primary Color Mixes

Once you have completed a full row of different skin tone variations, clean your brushes and your palettes until they are completely clean. A good idea is also to change the water in your jar. Again, use the aforementioned concept of the primary color ratios to begin a new row of experimentation. This time let us focus on the subtleties of lighter skin tones. Again, there are two concepts to make sense of for achieving the right skin tone. The first is the color ratio and the second is the opacity or how diluted our mix of paint is. Start again with a light hint of just red in a little pool of water on your palette. Then proceed to apply this to a square.

Again, allow yourself to play around with the ratios between blue, red, and yellow paint. Again, even skin tones that are darker but have a low opacity are achieved by the dilution of the mix of colors. This means that we can achieve darker skin tones that are relatively light due to the transparent nature of the mix.

A good suggestion is to make a few separate mixes of the primary colors so that you can figure out how to lighten and darken skin tones. Keeping a high red low blue will give you more peach colors. Having a higher blue with a medium-to-low red combination will give you a darker tone. Add small bits each time to build up different skin tones.

Mixing with Orange, Purple, and Green

Now that you have the basic concept of how to mix the primary colors for different skin tones, we can now start to experiment a little more with different colors. Using complementary colors is also a great way to either make a skin tone colder or warmer.

The same concept applies in this scenario, whereby, for example, if a mix seems to be blue, we can neutralize it with its complementary color.

 Clean your brushes and refill your water once again for recreating new mixes. You always want the mix to be clean for better mixing control. As we mix, let us consider another darker skin tone, whereby we make a mix of predominantly blue with a medium ratio of red and a small hint of yellow. We can darken this mix with a touch of purple and if it is too purple neutralize it a little with its complementary color, yellow.

Again, allow yourself to play around with the two key concepts here: color ratios and opacity. For instance, we can create a light skin color with a highly diluted red that will come out as a peach. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, we can make much darker colors with highly pigmented mixes with predominantly blues and purples.

Understanding Yellow and Red as a Tool for Lightening Skin Tones

Whether we are aiming to make darker or lighter skin tones a good exercise is to understand the values of reds and yellows. With reds, we can imagine how it works like blood at the surface of the skin. When we utilize red as a dominant color it will create a warmer value in the skin tone and resemble the peachy quality blood near the surface of the skin.

With yellow, we can imagine how it resembles a lightning quality. The colors are quite literal in the effects they can have on different skin tones. With yellow we can add it to both light and darker skin tones, and it will have the same effect of lightening a skin tone.

With lighter skin tones we can get away with using just yellow and red. This is where we make note of adding tiny bits into the mix. By adding tiny bits of paint into a highly diluted mix, we will see subtle variations in the skin tone, however, remember the concept of red for blood and yellow for light.

Understanding Blue and Red as Tools for Darker Skin Tones

With darker skin tones, again, it is not simply a matter of darkening a color with black or brown paint. We could do that but it doesn’t help in capturing the nuances of darker skin tones. In this case, again, we want to know color ratios paired with opacity. For instance, mixes with blues as the dominant color work well to add darker tonality to a skin tone. When they start to seem perhaps too blue, we slowly add more red

As we darken a skin tone with blues and slowly produce a more natural and warmer feel with red, the skin tone will resemble a more human quality. Again, think of red as blood, blood carries the connotation of life and vitality that we associate instinctually with skin. So, we can darken the skin tone with blues and slowly make them warmer with reds.

Again, we can also have a slightly less diluted mix whereby we slowly add bit by bit of blues and reds until we come to the color value that we are satisfied with. We can also then neutralize and lighten with hints of yellow and then start to experiment with our complimentary colors to achieve more variety in color value.

All skin tones are different, some have pink hues and some have purple hues but if we understand and explore the potential of both the concept of opacities and color ratios, we can gain more confidence in our watercolor skin tones. This also helps us understand moments of shadow and light on the skin, overall, developing our watercolor skin tone mixing skills.

Tips to Remember

Learning how to mix watercolor paints can be a tricky process as it is very different from other paint mediums. Here are some of our top tips to help you out!

• Having two jars of water helps clean our brushes thoroughly before new applications of paint.
• Remember that there are so many different types of skin tones. Some are slightly more peachy, whilst others are slightly more purple. All are determined by the mix of paint.

• Have a good palette for mixing. A great suggestion is a plate from your kitchen.
• Try to have fun, again this is experimentation of different skin tone variations.
• Always keep the concept of blood, light source, and opacity in mind when figuring out skin tones.

This tutorial breaks down the basics of watercolor skin tone mixing. In this tutorial we went through the general process of understanding how to mix the three primary colors, yellow, blue, and red, to help us determine different watercolor skin tones. With watercolor, we are also dealing with a water-soluble medium. This means that the nature of the medium represents dark and lighter colors through different methods. Adding more pigment into a mix is one way, but then another way to control darker and lighter skin tones is by the opacity of the paint. This tutorial is a great introduction to the basic concepts associated with creating various skin tones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Paint Darker Skin Tones With Watercolor?

Painting darker skin tones can be done in a few ways. This is why we make a skin tone chart; so that we can explore the ways in which one can achieve various skin tones through different methods. One method is by adding more pigment to the mix, which in turn will thicken the paint and allow for darker tonal values. However, if you do this, we want to pay attention to the ratio between reds and blues. The combination between reds and blues can really change the makeup of the tonal value in watercolor skin tones. Blues work well to slightly darken the skin, whereas reds work well to enrich the skin with a warmer quality.  The color combination paired with the opacity of paint will determine the tonal value of skin tones, so allow yourself to experiment with different applications of each method.

How Do You Paint Realistic Skin With Watercolor?

What makes skin seem realistic is the understanding of light in combination with color mixing. This tutorial breaks down the color mixing aspect of how to achieve realistic skin tones, however, when you are painting features of the body we often are interacting with shadow and light. This is what makes features realistic and can be controlled through the opacity of color applications. Another key element in skin tones is the color red. Think of it as blood, whereby we use red as the neutralizing color that can either make the skin tone warmer or paler. In turn, As we add more blue and yellow pigment into our color mixes, we will find that red works as a balancing component that can shift the skin color to lighter and darker tones. Red paint, opacity, and the concept of light are three aspects to keep in mind when figuring out how to achieve realistic skin tones.

How Do I Make My Watercolor Pigmented?

Basically, what we are doing when we make watercolor more pigmented is we are thickening consistency by either adding more paint to a mix or adding more layers. There are a few ways to make skin tones either darker or lighter, however, when we want to make skin tones darker, we want to pay attention to how we want the skin tone to interact with light. This will have a great effect on the opacity of paint that we will use for different parts of the skin. Even though the skin is generally a consistent color throughout, the colors of skin can also change according to the amount of light it is exposed to. So, as you paint skin tones and use this tutorial as a reference, think of opacity and light sources as two key aspects that can change the degree of pigmentation.

The post Watercolor Skin Tones – How to Make Skin Color With Watercolor% first appeared on Art in Context.

An Easy Watercolor Tutorial for Beginners

Essentially what water comes down to in a painting is the various ways of achieving ripples. This tutorial teaches you how to paint water ripples that describe a close-up to the water and a distance from the water. Since we are painting water we do not need a source image for reference.

The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, this is a beginner’s tutorial on how to paint water with watercolor, which means we will not be doing something overly complex. Secondly, water is quite abstract and oftentimes can be hard to define as water unless contextualized by something in the water. Nevertheless, what we will be doing are two different paintings to help us understand the fundamental principles associated with achieving the qualities of water with watercolor.

Necessary Materials

Firstly we want good paper, any watercolor paper is good and can be bought in your local art shop, however, make sure the grammage of the paper is above 300GSM. We will use a set of watercolor brushes, however, you can use various brushes for various effects. And lastly, we will be using a set of watercolor paints. Depending on where you are in the world and what is available to you is completely your choice. However, here are some suggested materials that potentially could be a preferred choice. Lastly, we will use some masking/scotch tape to keep our paper down and in place. Here are the items that you will need:

• Paintbrushes
• 300GSM paper
• Watercolor pan paint
• Ruler
• Scotch/Masking tape

Preparation

When learning how to paint water with watercolors, we want to make sure we have an environment that is conducive to focusing. This means, place yourself somewhere where it is quiet and you can relax as you go through this tutorial. We want to make sure we have filled a cup with water, preferably two cups, to give our brushes a rinse between different tonal applications. Lastly, we want our paper prepared in front of us, you can do this tutorial on any sized paper as long as you can divide it into two with some scotch tape.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Paint Water

Painting water is really easy and can easily be over complicated. This tutorial is broken into two segments. The first part is how to paint water that seems to be close by and the second part is learning how to paint water that seems to be further in the distance.

When learning how to paint water with watercolor, you will find that the technique is predominantly associated with a specific wrist action. Learning how to paint water with watercolor is essentially learning how to paint using a slight flick of the wrist from left to right. This action makes a series of horizontal strokes that are either large or small which define the water in close proximity or at a great distance.

We will find that we will also slowly build our layers from dark to light. With that said, let us go through this tutorial on how to paint water with watercolor.

Painting Water That Seems Close By

As we learn how to paint water with watercolor we will first begin with learning how to paint water that seems to be in close proximity. Watercolor is a medium that lends itself to more abstract representations of reality. This means that it is a great way to represent something, in this case, water, by painterly effects that can often be considered abstract. What we want to do is grasp the concept of the strokes. The strokes that we apply will govern how the ripples can be defined as far away or close by. With that said let us go through the various steps.

Step 1: Wetting the Page

Let us begin our first painting by wetting one of our segmented sides. What we want to do is evenly distribute a thin layer of water over the surface of the paper. We want there to be an evenly spread layer of water on the surface of the page.

Step 2: Applying the First Strokes

Let us begin to wet our brushes and load our brushes with blue paint.  However, we want the first layer to be very light and washed out so try to dip your brush in the water again before you apply the paint. Whilst the page is still wet let us begin to make side-to-side strokes of our blue. As you do this, lift your hand every once in a while to leave white space on the paper, especially in the center of the page.

As we make these strokes from left to right we also want the strokes to not be completely smooth. Think of it as making slight squiggle actions with your hand. We also want to work our way up the page whilst leaving the center of the page fairly untouched with blue paint. Once that is done allow it to completely dry.

Step 3: Painting Mid-toned Ripples

Painting water is very abstract and can be done in a variety of ways. This tutorial on how to paint water demonstrates the application of light to dark layers of blue. As we go we can put a touch of black in our blue to darken it. With your brush begin to make jagged side to side marks on your paper.

Think of it as if your hand is shaken rather than stable as you move from side to side. As we paint over the current lighter tones we want to leave little moments untouched to create a sense of light. It is also good to keep your strokes moving in a single direction to give the effect of flow.

What we want to do as we paint water is to consider the concept of flow. As we make strokes and squiggles we want to make it move up the page. However, because we are depicting water from a close-up view, we want to keep our strokes thick up the page. However, every time we apply new strokes of paint allow it to naturally fade as you move up the page.

We can apply this mid-tone of blue from the center of the page moving upward. As we paint over the previous marks of painted water we want the overall progression to move to the top of the page. This means that we are not working with a horizon, giving the effect of water seeming closer in the vicinity.

Allow yourself to keep making these squiggle side-to-side strokes up to your page. The paint will always seem darker when it is wet, so don’t worry about feeling like it may be overly dark for a mid-tone application. Allow the paint to fade as you make your marks from the center of the page moving up along the page.

Step 4: Painting Darker Ripples

We can now proceed to do a similar action with our darkest tone of blue which we can create by mixing 80% blue to 20% black. Use that as a guiding ratio as long as it’s darker than your previous application. This time we are going to become more sparing with our strokes.

As we continue with this staggered way of applying strokes, again, try to paint them toward a particular direction. For instance, you could paint them moving upward and left as if they were moving out of the frame into the distance. This way of painting will give it a quality of motion, which resembles the qualities of water. We want to keep going with this process as we paint the shakey strokes in an upward direction. Remember that the process of painting water is simply a matter of various strokes placed strategically in a pattern. We want to make sure that the flow of the pattern is moving upward toward the edges of the paper, this will give the effect of continuity.

As we continue with this process and move toward the top of the page, we can make our strokes a little more simplified and linear. By this, I mean that as the paint fades whilst you paint towards the top of the page, you want to start making your strokes normal side-to-side flicks. Giving a sense of smoothness in the water the further it gets away.

Keep with this process until you feel that you have painted the full frame of the paper. You want to allow your paint to naturally fade as you work your strokes up the page. Lastly, the idea is to keep the more prominent ripples in the foreground or at the bottom of the page. As we move up the page, the ripples can become more smooth and faint.

That’s the general process of painting water up close with watercolor. Firstly, we want to keep our strokes fairly large, giving a sense of proximity. Secondly, we can remove the horizon which also gives a sense of closeness. And then lastly, it is simply a process of layering darker tones over your light tone painted water.

Painting Water That Seems Far Away

Learning how to paint water fading into the horizon is a really fun activity. It is a very similar process to our previous painting with the addition of new elements. When we look at painted water the close-up qualities are generally abstract looking. It is the same with painting water in the distance, the painted water is a series of strokes and lines that is otherwise abstract if not contextualized. 

We will be going through this painting learning predominantly how to paint ripples. With that said let us begin.

Step 1: Wetting the Page

Let us begin with wetting our page. However, we are going to use the slightly colored blue water from previously rinsing our blue brushes. We can also just dip our brushes in blue paint and mix it into the water to give it a blue tint. Let us proceed to wet our new segmented page evenly with a thin layer of water on the surface.

Our page should be evenly wet from corner to corner. We want the water to be evenly distributed on our paper before we proceed to apply some blue marks on our paper.

Step 2: Painting the Light Water Tones

Whilst our page is wet proceed to take your wet brush and dip it in your blue paint. Give it a rinse in water to dissipate some of the paint on the brush. Then, with a light blue coated brush begin to make some slight marks by painting strokes from left to right. In a similar fashion as before we want to have a slight shake in our hand as we make these strokes at the bottom of our page. What we want to do is keep a slight shake in your hand as you make these marks whilst lifting your hand once in a while to create light tones in the water.

As we apply the paint to our paper we will find that the paint will fade as we make strokes. This is what we want as we paint darker strokes at the bottom of the page that will slightly fade as we move up the page. However, we don’t want to go beyond the center of our pages. This is because I want to create a horizon effect in our painting.

Don’t make your paint too dark as the aim is to build our layers from light to dark. Another good suggestion is to always give your brush a slight rinse with water before application. This is a great way to reassure that we are not making our strokes too dark. The strokes will also lighten as they dry, so keep that in mind.

As we make strokes from the bottom of our page toward the center of our page we can also make our strokes slightly slimmer. We want the strokes to become thinner the closer they get to the center of the page. Remember to stop painting once you arrive at the center of the page.

Step 3: Creating a Vanishing Horizon

Once we have allowed for our first layer of application to dry completely. What we are going to do is apply a very washed-out blue stroke along the center of our page. We want to make this stroke along with the last light strokes that we painted in the step before this. By keeping our stroke light and washed out it will create an effect of fading into a distance.

With the same light wash of blue, we can make strokes up along the top half of our page from where the water ends and the sky begins. Our painted water strokes should give us insight as to where the horizon is situated.

As we paint up toward the top of our page what we are doing is creating a seamless gradient from our horizon into the sky. Once it has dried it will create a quality of mistiness which is how we develop the fading-into-the-distance effect in our painting.

Step 4: Painting Mid-tone Ripples

Once our paint has dried we should have no distinctive line that describes the horizon. What should be present is a seamless fade from dark strokes to the middle of the page where a horizon line would be. However, painting water takes time to get right so don’t worry about perfecting it. We can now proceed to paint darker ripples. For the foreground or the ripples closest, we can use a medium round brush, however, we want to now start using a small pointed brush. The reason for this is that it is going to help develop ripples in the water that are small. This will make them appear to be more distant.

Again, think about the action as a side-to-side stroke that is not too smooth. You can either strategically distort the lines by painting jagged horizontal shapes or you can give your hand a light shake as you apply these marks. There are many ways to go about doing so, but remember to be cautious as you apply these marks.

Step 5: Painting Darker Ripples

Once we have let our painting dry we are going to proceed with making ripples in the water with some dark blue paint and a small paintbrush. We will be following the same process of application, whereby we make these horizontal squiggles that move in an upward direction toward the left side or right side of the page.

With these darker ripples, we want to be very sparing with how much we apply to the lighter ripples that were painted before. The aim here is to create a darkened water effect that we very cautiously apply over our mid-toned watermarks. We want a variety of tonal variations, this way the water has some depth to it. As we apply these darker painted water ripples, we want to have them scattered along the surface of the water. Again, each application that begins at the foreground or the bottom of the page will naturally fade in saturation as you continue to paint up toward the center of the page. Allow that to happen as you make small ripple marks in the water as you approach the center of the page near the faded horizon area.

As we slowly apply these scattered squiggly lines through various areas within the water try to keep them moving in a single direction. By this, I mean that we can either move them up along the page in the leftward direction to create a sense of motion. As you paint these marks toward the right or the left it will naturally give it a more fluid quality. As we continue to slowly and cautiously paint these darker ripples in the water, we want to make sure that we allow the paint to naturally fade from the brush as we paint from the bottom of the page toward the center of the page.

As we continue to paint these marks, another great suggestion is that you could also do some light stippling toward the center of the page where the horizon would be.

You want these stippling marks to be very small and subtle, doing that gives some continuity to the ripples as they move into the distance from the foreground. Something that works as a. Good guide for the form of the water is that the marks naturally are slightly larger in the foreground due to the close vicinity that we would be able to encounter the water from. Then, naturally, the water will smoothen out as the ripples are further in the distance. We achieve this by allowing the paint to fade and our mark-making to become smaller as we create the effect of distance.

Tips to Remember

That’s it! Two interesting ways of painting water with watercolor paint. We should be left with two interesting paintings that describe water in close vicinity and water that seems to be in the distance. Again, painting water is abstract when not contextualized with objects. However, this is a great description of two techniques that you can use in the future when painting water with watercolor. Here are some great tips and tricks to help you with your watercolor painting. 

• Always tape your paper down when painting with watercolor. This way we have our paper firmly placed on our table and it creates a beautiful frame around our work.
• Always keep two jars of water nearby. One for a rinse after painting and the second for another rinse to clean the brush thoroughly.

• Painting water is about painting ripples. If you can play around with various ways of creating ripples you can create water with watercolor in various ways.
• Always firmly tape your page with scotch tape. This is because we are working with a water-based medium that will inevitably warp the page.
• The watercolor process is just a process of layering. We apply these marks through a series of light to dark layers.

These are two interesting ways of painting water with watercolor paint. When you paint over lightly painted water with darker tones of blue, you should become more and more cautious every time you apply new marks. It’s all about figuring out the squiggly motion or jagged horizontal line quality. Once you have that, you can apply that pattern or line style in large and small variations. Remember, as water fades into the distance we see less of its ripples which means our mark-making becomes more straight and linear. This gives the effect of distance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Different Watercolor Techniques?

There are various watercolor techniques. In this tutorial, we go through some of them such as wet-on-wet for instance. This technique is where we apply our wet paint to our wet surface. This is good for soft and blurring backgrounds, as well as creating seamless gradients. Another technique is dry brushing. This technique is great for adding details toward the end of the softer tones. This is because we are applying dry paint which then will have less of a translucent quality, which will result in a stark appearance. These are just a few that are helpful for water surfaces.

How Do You Paint Water in Watercolor?

Water is quite simple to paint. With water you need to understand that there are various ways it can be, sometimes settled and sometimes motion. With ripples in the water, it is about creating quick strokes with the wrist generally moving along the plain of your landscape. This means if the plain of your landscape depicts a scene where the water should be moving horizontally then we want to make swift strokes with the wrist from left to right. We use light tones first and then we can and in darker strokes to give a sense of reflection variations. Lastly, you want to keep negative moments or white moments in the water to diversify the shine effect on the surface of the water.

How to Paint an Easy Watercolor Landscape?

When doing nature paintings with watercolor or just trying to produce an easy watercolor landscape it always starts by doing a rough sketch first. We want something to guide our watercolor landscape. Secondly, we want to develop the background around an event horizon, this is where we add the colors on a wet surface that will fade and produce an effect of distance that we can paint our foreground over. Then lastly, once the background is dry we can paint or foreground over that to create a unique depth in our scenery. Whatever you paint in the foreground is your choice but these are the general principles of the application process for an easy watercolor landscape.

The post How to Paint Water – Ocean Painting Guide% first appeared on Art in Context.

An Easy Watercolor Tutorial for Beginners

In this tutorial, we will be learning how to paint a sunset with watercolors. We will depict a sunset that is set over a vast body of water. We will not need a reference image, as this watercolor sunset painting can be achieved without a reference image. When painting with watercolor, you will find that there are many ways to use the medium that is not always exclusively a way of using the medium itself.

By this, I mean that watercolor isn’t always about watercolors and paintbrushes. What’s great about painting a sunset in watercolor is that there is an interesting trick with a coin that we will learn which you can reuse and apply in various other paintings. With that being said, let us get into this tutorial on how to paint a sunset with watercolor in 7 easy steps.

Necessary Materials

As we learn how to paint a sunset with watercolors we will find that the right materials will be essential to the best results. Firstly, we will need good paper, preferably something around 300gsm in thickness. When learning how to paint a sunset in watercolor you will find that the water-soluble medium is best controlled with watercolor brushes, so we will need some watercolor paintbrushes. We will also need some masking tape to tape down our paper. We will want at least two jars of water for cleaning our brushes and secondly for a thorough rinse before new applications of paint. Lastly, we will need a coin which we will use to create a sun. Here are the items that you will need:

• Paintbrushes
• 300GSM paper
• Watercolor pan paint
• Ruler
• Scotch/Masking tape
• A coin

Preparation

When you learn how to paint a sunset with watercolor in this tutorial, it will require some sense of relaxation whilst doing so. A good suggestion is to perhaps listen to some music whilst you go through this process or place yourself in a quiet environment. 

Learning how to paint a sunset with watercolor is a really fun task, as long as we have all our materials in place and we feel that we are ready to engage with this tutorial we can then get started.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Paint a Sunset

There are many ways to learn how to paint a sunset with watercolors, however, in this tutorial we will learn some interesting tricks that can be really helpful in creating features within the painting. We begin with creating the sky which we will be followed by creating the ocean. In this tutorial, we will use a coin as a way to create negative space in the painting. This will be the way we create the lightest color in our painting, which will be the sun. We will find that as we learn how to paint a sunset with watercolor there are really simple ways to create qualities like water and clouds. Again, this tutorial is a guide to teach you a specific way of how to paint a sunset with watercolors. With that being said let us go through the various steps.

Step 1: Dividing the Page

Firstly we want to divide the page. When painting a watercolor sunset, you don’t want the page to be in equal halves. This is because the ratio of water to sky should never be even as it generally has a better aesthetic look. Try to divide your page just under halfway with some scotch tape.

Step 2: Painting the Sky

Firstly, we want to have a coin. The coin is going to create a negative space that will be the brightest part of the sun. With water on our brush, hold your finger pressed down onto the coin where you would like your son to be placed. Then begin to add water around that coin with your brush.

We want that circle area to be dry so that as we add color it will naturally repel from going into the dry area. We can now add our first layer of the sunset which can be any light color such as yellow.

We want to fill the area where we will be painting the sky with our light color. This will serve as the base for the other colors that we will be painting over.

You can also add some highlights of orange into your already existing mix of yellow. Then proceed to make some strokes in your sky with your orange color to create a gesture of moody clouds. Sunsets are never the same so feel free to make all kinds of marks whilst the paper is still wet.

Step 3: Adding Color onto the Wet Surface

Whilst the sky is still wet, begin to be playful with color combinations that you might want to exist in your sunset. For example, a good idea is to slowly build from your yellow to darker tones moving from reds to blues and purples.

Try to be playful with how you apply these various colors in the sky. think about squiggle motions and linear strokes to imitate different types of cloud structures.

As you learn how to paint a sunset you should always consider that no sunset is ever the same as another. This means there is freedom in the mark-making process associated with how we create clouds and movement in the sky of our sunsets.

Sunset in watercolor can be really beautiful as the medium water quality allows for a lot of soft gradient shifts. Try to be swift and quote your application of new colors whilst the page is still wet. This will allow for the colors to merge more seamlessly.

Try to also not dominate the lighter tones with your darker tones in your sunset water painting. A good suggestion of how to do this is by adding the darker tones within the corners of our sky. This allows for good contrast without the lighter colors being completely dominated.

Step 4: Defining the Horizon Line

Once your sky has completely dried, we should be left with an interesting color variation within the sky portion of our painting. What we can do now is slowly and gently lift the masking tape off from the center of our page.

What we will do now is take a new piece of masking tape or scotch tape and begin to place it horizontally onto our page predominantly over the painted half of our page. However, we want a slight overlap of the scotch tape on the empty part of the page.

We want there to be a slight overlap of scotch tape placed horizontally onto the page where there would be a horizon line. This little overlap of the scotch tape is going to create a silver lining on the horizon that helps to distinguish the two parts of our painting.

Step 5: Painting the Water Reflection

Once we have our scotch tape placed down horizontally on our page, we should have a slight overlap of the scotch tape placed on the portion of the page where we will paint the water.  We can then proceed to take a clean wet brush and prim or page with a bit of water.

With a small thin brush, we can begin to paint little thin horizontal strokes directly in line with the sun and where its reflections would exist on the water. The reflection of the sun is generally directly underneath it on the surface of the water.

We want to imitate the same color qualities of our sky, this is often a more realistic representation of how reflections in the water work with sunsets. We do this by painting little yellow strokes around a vertical negative space left unpainted that falls directly underneath the sun.

Leave this negative moment of unpainted paper running down the page vertically directly underneath your sun. Proceed to paint yellow strokes slightly overlapping into this negative zone of the page to give the effect of waves. You can also paint the rest of the page yellow around this negative space. We want to just make sure that the brightest reflections are achieved by the white paper itself. 

This is why we leave out a strip of unpainted paper directly under the sun. You can, however, have strokes going into that space in moments but not too much.

Step 6: Adding Darker Tones in the Water

While the page is still wet, begin to add some horizontal strokes of orange in the water. Again, we want to imitate the color quality of the sky. We also want to add horizontal strokes because it creates the characteristics of ripples in the water.

You can also be playful with what color combinations you put in the water. Just remember that we weren’t the water to mimic the sky in color. This is how water generally works when it reflects the sky. However, we want to do this whilst the paper is still wet for a nice seamless fade and gradient shift in the water.

Step 7: Final Details

We are done at this point and what we should be left with is an interesting color variation within our sky that is reflected within the water in the bottom section of our painting. Once the painting is dry we can begin to remove the masking tape on our horizon line.

The masking tape or scotch tape should have left a slight lining on the page that defines a horizon line that distinguishes the two halves of the paint, the sky, and the water.

Once our painting is completely dry you are more than welcome to add some little darker strokes here and there on the water to create a bit more of a color variation within the ripples of the water.

That is it, a simple seven-step guide on how to paint a watercolor sunset. Watercolor sunsets help with color exploration as well as the merging of various colors. It is a great way to learn how to fade colors into each other through a wet-on-wet technique. This is where we add wet paint onto a web page to form better integration of various colors which create seamless gradients.

We also learned that we can use other items to aid us in making certain shapes such as a coin for the sun or any circular shape we would want in future paintings. Otherwise, this is a simple way to paint a sunset that you can use in the future when you would like to do so again

Tips to Remember

This guide is a great way for you to also explore other color variations and different application techniques. Watercolor sunsets can be very colorful so try to explore the medium as much as possible when painting a sunset in watercolor.

• Always tape your paper down when painting with watercolor. This way we have our paper firmly placed on our surface for better control.
• Always have two jars of water when doing watercolor. One for an initial rinse after using the paint and the other for a second cleaning of the brush for assurance that it is clean.
• Explore the wet-on-wet technique before application of paint within your final painting . Explore color variations and different strokes.
• Remember, creating water is simply just a matter of side-to-side strokes. thicker strokes define proximity and thinner strokes describe ripples in the distance.

There are many ways to paint a sunset using watercolor. Sunset water paintings allow for a lot of movement within the paint because of the water. This means that the water is capable of allowing the paint to move around the paper before drying. You want to grasp this quality of watercolor paint so that you can use it to your advantage when painting watercolor sunsets or any landscape for that matter. However, this tutorial is a really easy and simple way to create sunsets with a few guidelines to work with. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Paint Watercolor Sunsets?

There are many ways to learn how to paint a sunset, however, this tutorial breaks down how to paint a sunset through an easy process. Watercolor sunset paintings are often achieved in a variety of different ways. To paint a sunset in watercolor you always want to have some idea about whether the sunset is over water or in a different type of landscape. Sunset water painting can be really beautiful over a body of water because of the various reflections you can create.  This tutorial demonstrates the basic process of sunset reflections in water which is a great trick to learn for beautiful sunset paintings.

How Do You Paint Reflections in the Water?

When learning how to paint a sunset in watercolor a great way to do so is to paint a sunset over a body of water. This is because we can create water reflections quite easily and they can look really beautiful. We achieve these reflections by leaving negative spaces in the water. By leaving the unpainted surface area within the water it will begin to act as the lightest and brightest reflections on the surface of the water. You then want to slowly make strokes working around this negative surface area on the water. Generally, we leave this area of the paper untouched directly under the sun as reflections in a real-life form on the surface of the water. This is a great tip on how to paint reflections in the water.

How Do You Paint Water With Watercolors?

Water is quite simple to paint. With water you need to understand that there are various ways it can be, sometimes settled and sometimes motion. With ripples in the water, it is about creating quick strokes with the wrist generally moving along the plain of your landscape. This means if the plane of your landscape depicts a scene where the water should be moving horizontally then we want to make swift strokes with the wrist from left to right. We use light tones first and then we can and in darker strokes to give a sense of reflection variations. Lastly, you want to keep negative moments or white moments in the water to diversify the shine effect on the surface of the water

The post How to Paint a Sunset With Watercolors – Guide to Depicting Light% first appeared on Art in Context.

Before We Start

This tutorial intends to explore various techniques of watercolor pencil art. We will look at various methods for using this type of pencils through a drawing of easy watercolor flowers. Using watercolor pencils to draw watercolor flowers requires a more relaxed approach. Try to make sure you have time and a comfortable environment when doing this tutorial. We will be going through several techniques and then applying them to a watercolor flower painting and drawing.

Learning how to use watercolor pencils is not just a process of drawing flowers, but it is also a process of painting watercolor flowers. We will be learning how to paint watercolor flowers with our watercolor pencils as well as learning a variety of techniques throughout the process.

Necessary Materials

Having the correct material for learning how to paint watercolor flowers with watercolor pencils is essential to the best results. When learning how to paint flowers with watercolor pencils as a beginner means that we do not need the top range materials, however, we do need the correct materials. Below is a list of a few suggested items that you can purchase online. Here is what you will need:

• Paintbrushes
• 300 GSM paper
• Arteza Watercolor pencils
• Ruler
• Scotch/Masking tape
• HB pencil
• Sharpener

If you are interested in the different types of pencils for watercolor and what to look for, you can also visit our best watercolor pencil blog post.

Preparation

What we want to do is make sure we have a flat surface and good lighting for this tutorial. It is helpful to always be in a quiet space, so perhaps try to place yourself somewhere where you may not be distracted. We want to make sure we have a jar of water nearby as it will be essential for this tutorial. 

Lastly, We will be drawing a series of different flowers from a source image that you can either print or draw directly from your smart device.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Draw Flowers with Watercolor Pencils

Learning how to paint flowers with watercolor pencils is a great task for learning how to use watercolor pencils in general. The process is quite simple, whereby we will make some loose sketches of a variety of flowers. We then follow up that process with the painting of the flowers. Flowers allow us a great deal of freedom with our mark-making because of their abstract nature. This means we can be quite playful with the marks we make with our pencils when creating flowers in watercolor pencils. However, we will find that there are a variety of ways that we can both draw and paint with watercolor pencils. With that said, let us get started.

Step 1: Sketching Our Image

All watercolor pencil drawings begin with a pencil sketch. What we want to do is look closely at our source images and notice the various flowers that we want to use. In this tutorial, we will be drawing/painting a combination of daisies, orchids, and lilies.

This tutorial is specifically aimed at helping us understand various techniques through the process of drawing some flowers. So don’t worry too much about flowers being perfect. On the contrary, keeping your drawing loose works well with the watercolor pencil medium.

Step 2: Creating the Background

Because watercolor pencils are not the same as normal pencils, we want to apply the same process of watercolor painting to our drawing. By this what is meant is that we will build up the image by various grounds, starting with the background.

Let’s create an interesting color combination for our background by using a combination of blue and purple. Starting with your blue pencil begin to color around the sketch of your flowers. Leave a little space between the edges of your sketch and our background.

Leaving a little space between our sketch and the watercolor pencil will create a nice pop towards the end of the tutorial, allowing the flowers to have a beautiful contrast to that of the background. With your purple pencil begin to color the background around the pencil sketch, creating an interesting color combination in the background.

Once we have put some colors around our sketch, which will represent the background, we can now activate it with some water and a paintbrush. This is a more common way of using watercolor pencils, whereby the color is drawn with pencil and then activated with water and brush thereafter. Lightly wet your brush and begin to stroke the watered brush over your color pencil.

We will do this until we have gone over all of the colors of the background. We want to work very steadily as we make these strokes with our brush. A good suggestion is to start from one side of your drawing/painting and slowly move through the whole image until you have painted water over all the colors. 

Once we have done that, allow it to dry for 10 minutes or so.

Step 3: Drawing and Painting The Orchid

Since we have four flowers, let us begin with one at a time, starting with the orchid. Orchids are very interesting flowers, in some ways their shape can make them seem creature-like. Let’s start with coloring in the petals by using pink for the larger surface area and purple for the edges.

We will be using a few techniques starting with the fading technique whereby you use two colors and slowly merge them with water. We do this by coloring the edges of our petals with purple and the body of the petals with pink.

This technique can also be understood through a tutorial on watercolor pencil techniques here: insert link to watercolor pencil techniques However, you should always leave a slight space between the two colors so that when we use water and a brush we can then pull them together with painterly strokes. You can place two couples in various ways on the flower as long as you leave slight space between them.

Once we have colored in our flower we can begin activating the colors with water. What we want to do is slowly begin to paint over our colors with a small watered brush. Slowly and steadily we will paint over the colors and begin making strokes from one into the other. Once that has dried we can begin to layer new marks on our flower, giving it various features. Another great technique we can use to make new marks is the palette technique. What we do is make a little scribble of watercolor pencil on a scrap piece of paper and then activate it with a watered brush.

Regarding our source image, this technique is a great way to achieve various features in the flower. What this allows for is a variety of marks that will make our drawing/painting a bit more complex and less singular in its features.

We can use various colors with this technique as long as we have waited for the previous marks to dry. This painting technique provides a great way of making shadows and watercolor effects on the drawing. At this point, we can begin to use various colors.

Once you have allowed your last application of watercolor pencil to dry, a good suggestion is to then make some stark contrast by using black as a way to define moments in the flower. With the same palette technique, water the black color and begin to paint some darker details. This can be done along the edges of the petals, it could be various lines in the bud or center of the flower, as well as various little lines or dots to give your flower a unique look. We can also do this with other darker colors such as purple or dark blue.

Once we have allowed our flower and its various layers of application to dry it should look quite interesting with a variety of marks. These are a few suggested colors in this tutorial, however, you can follow the general principles and apply your colors that you may find interesting.

Step 4: Drawing and Painting the Daisy

As we move on to a new flower let us begin with a new color and the classic watercolor pencil technique. We can begin by coloring in the petals yellow, However, try to not color in the whole petal but rather leave some negative space. Perhaps color on one side of each of the petals. Carry on this process until you have colored in all the petals. Another good suggestion is to color the base of the petals where they are connected to the center of the flower. What we will be exploring is the mixing technique whereby we draw colors onto each other before activating them with water.

We can now take our orange, since it works well with yellow, and begin to color on top of our yellow. Again, we don’t want to color over the yellow completely, rather what we want to do is color only moments in each petal.

Once we have attended to all the petals with our colors, we can take a small thin brush, dip it in some water and begin to activate the pencil marks. We want to be very slow and steady with this process, working our strokes in line with the shapes of the petals. This is another great way of creating an interesting color variety. Once that has dried we can begin to add details on top of that layer. Again, the watercolor pencil is similar to watercolor paint in that they both are about layering. We can do this with a new technique, where we take a color pencil, let’s say brown, and begin to pull the pigment directly from the pencil with a watered brush.

Again, since we want to make our details resemble the quality of a flower, consider where you paint these darker marks. Perhaps keep the dark moment near the base of each petal. Try to not wet your brush too much before pulling paint directly off the pencil. As you dip your brush in water, give it a little dab on some material to take some water away. Keep using this technique to create interesting marks in the flower. 

It’s good to try various ways of applying colors in a watercolor pencil drawing, this way we learn various ways of making marks in an artwork. Try to attend to all the petals until you feel satisfied.

Once we have allowed the petals to dry, with the same technique, let us paint the center of the daisy with our brown pencil. Remember that the center of a flower is never flat and generally consists of little buds of pollen, so perhaps use a stippling process of applying your pencil marks. Once that has dried We can then add new darker tones on our flower with the same technique. Perhaps use black to create good contrast on the center of the flower. Try to put more color on one side of the center part of the flower to give the effect shadow.

To create some depth and shadow in the petals we can apply some slight dark strokes to the petals as well. However, make note of the center of the flower as a way to guide your understanding of the direction from where the light would be coming from. Painting watercolor flowers with watercolor pencil is about the exploration of mark-making. 

Try to be subtle with some of your marks. We want to be subtle with mediums that are applied with painterly motions as they can be way too much if not attended to with caution and a steady hand. This is a general rule to work around as you go.

Step 5: Drawing and Painting Our Second Daisy

Let us begin to explore some new techniques whilst working with some that we have now familiarised ourselves with. Perhaps do some more classical coloring techniques on some of the petals. However, on some of the other petals, we can now try a new technique where we apply water onto the page which we will then color over with our watercolor pencil.

Try to cautiously apply the water onto the areas of the petals that you will try this new technique on. Whilst the page is still wet take a pencil, whichever color you want, and begin to slowly make drawing marks directly over the watered areas onto the petals. As you apply water onto more petals, a good suggestion is to not color the entire petal directly on the water. Rather, try to use this technique as a way of creating drawing marks that will describe the areas where the darkest tones will be.

As you go through the petals you can add a variety of colors on top of each other directly over the watered areas. This is a great way to create contrast as it will provide a stark layer that can be painted and drawn over in later stages of drawing this flower. Once these marks are completely dry, let us use some other techniques that we’re familiar with. Again, let us use our pencil as a way of extracting pigment with our paintbrush. Because this technique also can provide stark marks, be cautious as you make interesting details.

Once these marks are completely dry we can now start trying some of the other techniques we know to add more details and effects in the flower. Perhaps, let us add some lighter tones with the same technique whereby we use the pencil directly for extracting color.

Using the technique, where we use the pencil as a direct source for extracting color, is such a convenient and fun way of applying painting-styled marks that work well with the pencil marks. Once we let that dry completely we should be left with a light-toned flower that has a variety of marks within the petals. Generally, it’s safer to apply lighter marks first but, again, there is no right way. It all depends on the effect you want and how wisely you go about achieving it.

Once that has completely dried we can begin to add our darker marks in the bud of the flower as well as the petals. For the darker marks, allow yourself to try the variety of techniques we have explored thus far. Also, remember to consider the direction of light when creating shadowy effects.

Step 6: Drawing and Painting The Lily

Let us move onto our last flower by using the merging technique, where we apply colors in close vicinity to one another which will then be integrated by the use of water. Let’s start by coloring our lily with two colors, perhaps green and yellow. We can then proceed to activate these colors with our paintbrushes and water by painting water directly over our pencil marks. We can also move the color around the flower which means you don’t need to always completely color in an area. The water will move the color around as you make paint strokes.

Again, let us use the variety of techniques learned until this point. For instance let us try the palette technique, whereby we scribble some color onto a scrap piece of paper and then mix it with water and a paintbrush to make a sort of paint that we can then use on our flower.

We can also use the technique where we pull paint directly from the pencil with a watered paintbrush to create darker tones in the center of our Lilly. We can also add in the colors for the stems of the flowers. Perhaps, use green, and once that has dried apply black along the edge to give it some definition.

This exercise aims to give you insight into the variety of applications that you might be able to use within a watercolor pencil painting/drawing. At this stage feel free to try various techniques as you continue to make marks on the lily.

Step 7: Pen Work and Final Touch-Ups

Some techniques within watercolor pencil and paint are not always the medium itself. For one, Once your drawing has completely dried, a great technique to apply to your drawing/painting is using a pen to create interesting moments. In this case. perhaps try to do some scribbling effects around and over your drawing to enhance certain areas. These pen marks can create a very abstract quality in the work if that is your intention. 

Or you can be more clinical about drawing some details with your pen, to create more realistic moments and more tones that resemble the qualities of real flowers.

 Lastly, you can always use some of the techniques to enhance the contrast of your background or to add some final details in the flowers. Some good suggestions are to revisit your flowers and see if you can add new interesting marks or apply some darker tones of the same color in your background to create more contrast. There you have it, a tutorial on how to draw/paint interesting flowers with watercolor pencils. Remember, there is no right or wrong way of how you use these pencils. However, there is a pearl of general wisdom associated with what kind of effect you want to achieve and how to do it with what kinds of techniques are available to you.

Tips to Remember

This watercolor pencil tutorial shows you various watercolor pencil drawing/painting techniques as well as an easy watercolor painting that you can use as a template for your own. Using watercolor pencil can be accompanied by various mediums that may help refine the artwork. Sometimes a way of doing an artwork should not be done exclusively with just a single medium. As you do your watercolor art, always remember to have fun!

• In this watercolor pencils tutorial, the aim is to free you from a singular way of using the medium. So always try to use a medium in more than one way.
• When using a watercolor pencil give your water a refill with clean water now and then.
• Watercolor pencil art is not always just watercolor pencils. Drawing on top of our paintings can enhance the work sometimes.

• Watercolor pencil drawing can come with inevitable mistakes. SO keep a paper towel on hand. If you want to redo a mark, wet the area and give it a dab with a paper towel.
• Doing a watercolor flower painting with watercolor pencils comes with the freedom to explore. Try using both drawing and painting approaches.
• This watercolor flower tutorial is about focusing on the various ways to use your pencils for both drawing and painterly effects. So feel free to try various techniques as you go through the tutorial.

There you have it! A tutorial on a few watercolor pencil tips and techniques to help you strengthen your watercolor pencil skills. Watercolor pencil art is a great way to create a watercolor flower painting. When learning how to use watercolor pencils we must also learn how to paint with watercolor pencils. Knowing how to paint watercolor flowers with watercolor pencils is about learning the variety of approaches one can use with this medium. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Use Watercolor Pencils?

A good suggestion and a more common application are to draw directly onto the surface of a paper with your pencils and then activate the marks by painting over them with water. There is no one way to use watercolor pencils. In some instances, you can premix colors and make paint out of them and then use a brush to make painterly marks. Watercolor pencil drawings can also be made into a more painterly style with water and then once dry can be drawn over with other mediums. There are a variety of ways to use watercolor pencils, it’s all about trying to be as creative with the medium as you possibly can be.

Can Watercolor Pencils Be Used Without Water?

Yes, watercolor pencils do not always need to be activated with water. What makes an interesting image, in general, is when there is a variety of marks that create a diverse range of qualities. So when you do a watercolor pencil drawing you can use water or not or do both. There is no one way to learn how to paint with watercolor pencils, the trick is to be as creative with the medium as best as possible. As you practice your watercolor art you will see that, like any medium, there is always a variety of application methods. However, when learning how to paint watercolor flowers with watercolor pencil, you want to have the full range of mark-making possibilities that water can provide.

What Is Special About Watercolor Pencils?

Watercolor pencils are the unique medium that sits in between painting and drawing. What is particularly special about watercolor pencils is that it is a medium that frees someone to combine both paintings and drawing in a single artwork. However, it goes further than that by the way one can use the pencil as a painting medium which can often make unique qualities that can only be found in watercolor pencil drawings. It’s nice to mix pencil marks with painting marks when you want to paint watercolor flowers.

How to Paint Watercolor Flowers With Watercolor Pencils?

The best thing about learning how to paint watercolor flowers with watercolor pencils is that for one, there is a variety of application methods and secondly that comes with both drawing and painting qualities. However, it all starts with a general sketch of the flowers, from there you have free range to either make drawing marks or painting marks. Watercolor flowers with watercolor pencils are quite easy to paint as they are quite abstract in nature. This means the process of painting easy watercolor flowers can be developed through drawing unique marks or painting unique marks which can still resemble the qualities of a flower. This watercolor flower tutorial breaks down a few ways to explore those marks, however, there is no specific way to paint watercolor flowers. It’s all about experimentation.

The post How to Use Watercolor Pencils – Your Guide to Watercolor Pencil Art% first appeared on Art in Context.